We all had a great time but we all wanted to wring the neck of the other family's 5 years old by the end of it. The 5 year old boy (let's call him Wheelan) is full of energy which is misdirected 99% of the time and is the victim of lazy parenting. It's a shame because we really get along with his parents, but this was a common conversation we overheard:
Parent 1: "Wheelan is climbing on top of the table."
Parent 2: "Humph."
Both parents continue having coffee.
Parent 2: "Wheelan is hitting the smaller child."
Parent 1: "Wheeeeelan!"
Both parents return to reading the newspaper.
It's hard not to get annoyed by that. On the morning of the second day Wheelan actually woke up earlier than his parents and came upstairs to where Champ and I were reading. He asked to join us and, despite being very demanding of my time and energy, was actually quite delightful... when he was getting 100% of my attention.
It's a shame. He could be such a likeable kid except that his parent choose to do very little disciplining - until he is actually in serious trouble in which case they border on bullying him rather than disciplining him (bearing in mind that discipline means 'to teach').
Anyway, other family aside, we had such a nice time. Champ had never swam in the sea before and just loved it! He spent his time playing with the wet sand, getting bowled over by little waves and 'eating' the shells.
Here are a couple of pics:
Yum, seashells. Love that third picture.
ReplyDeleteI hope I don't become a Wheelan's mom. Zo is just hitting the age where we're beginning to discipline along with redirecting, and sometimes ignoring the behavior seems like the best course, but it's often hard to know what to do.