David called me after dropping Vincent off at school saying that Vincent was a wreck and on the verge of tears. David simply asked him if he was excited for the weekend, and Vincent got upset. He asked why he is the only kid that has to go to school everyday, and said that he never gets a break. Wow.
He has Mandarin on Saturdays, which is sort of long (3 hours), and swimming on Sundays for 30 minutes. He's doing really well in Mandarin, even if he doesn't enjoy it. He's struggling with swimming a bit. He feels like he wants to "delete something" from his weekends.
Unfortunately, these two are tough to delete. We feel the swimming is important for his safety. He's old enough now that we want to make sure he can swim. He doesn't need to be Michael Phelps. Just safe. And, the Mandarin...well, it's important in ways I cannot explain very well to him. He doesn't get it at this age why it means so much to me. Part of it is the culture and community, and the other part is that he's just beneficial for him down the road.
So, after school, as we were walking home, I said to Vincent that his dad and I have discussed how we'd like to get him a prize for the test he took a few weeks ago. He had gotten a 92% on the test, and I don't think I made a big enough deal about how good of a score that was. I was happy, etc., but he got that score after not being in school for about 3 weeks (maybe even 4). He did all his homework during break, and studied very hard. I told him that we realized how hard he had worked and wanted to reward him for his hard work. Yes, it's totally manipulative and bribery, BUT!!! I'm hoping this will get him excited about continuing.
Tyler and I had a great little morning together. We went to the gym, where he was one of the only kids there. He was so happy with the snack I packed him, and excitedly told me he ate it all. Then, we ran errands. I used that word, "errands," with him, and now he's into it (I think). I wanted to get some clams for dinner. We went to a fish place that seemed to scare him a little, but they only took cash, which I had none. Instead, we found our clams at Uwajimaya, along with another $55 worth of food. I bought some other fish for dinner, too, and several Asian snacks. That place is like Trader Joe's for me. I always buy more than intended.
Next stop, Big Mario's for pizza. It's sort of a whole in the wall, hipster pizza joint. Looks like a bar inside, but there are two small tables across from the take-out counter where minors can eat. Yay! I was unsure if Tyler would like his pizza, since they didn't have his exact toppings. He ordered a pepperoni. The slices are huge. I had his sliced in half, and he ate both halves.
After a while, he said to me, "I'm tired of sitting so high." We were on bar stools. I told him to eat standing up. He did.
Such a cutie.
Our next stop was Cupcake Royale to pick up some gift cards that they are donating to the upcoming Montlake Elementary auction. And, since we were there, and I've been craving their cupcakes for weeks now, we ordered a few to take home. Tyler requested a scoop of ice cream, too. Vanilla with sprinkles. He did a little happy dance while eating.
Finally, tonight, after the boys went to bed, David and I moved some furniture (and stuff) down to the basement. Afterwards, we hung out in the future nursery and talked about where this and that will go. David said something to the degree of being excited to get this set up in there. I said it sounds like he has some nesting urges himself. Fine by me. We're going to buy paint tomorrow while Vincent's in Chinese class. Woohoo!
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