In Which I Can't Talk About It.

Oh, yes. It's that time of the year again. BSAICBA time! Since this is an ongoing activity that I lead with a bunch of kids that I love, and since this is a secret-ish blog that very few people in my real life know about, I just can't talk about the Big Secret Activity I Can't Blog About.

Except to say... WE WON!!! WEWONWEWONWEWON!!!

Ahem.

I will not lie. This year was tough. We had a crushingly abrubt end to last year's effort (Long story short: they worked hard and performed awesomely and then a fluke mistake cost them all their points, much to everyone's heartbreak. Even the judge who informed me of the news was crying. It was awful.)

This year, we were assigned new members and it was a tough fit at first, sliding in new personalities to a well-honed machine. I'm proud to say all the kids involved - new and old - rose to the challenge and as we approached tournament time, I was thrilled that they were all having fun and feeling involved, but hopefully not too stressed. And then, winning - it was wonderful, especially in light of last year's heartbreak.

I won't lie. It was also a validation. This thing that I do, that I don't (mostly) blog about? It is a time-suck of major proportions. Not only is it a time-suck, but it is an emotional bog as well. There are all sorts of hidden landmines - it is not an undertaking for the faint of heart, and I've really put a lot of effort and thought into guiding these kids along throughout the year. And again, yes, I am purposefully vague, but trust me when I say it is one of the hardest things I do outside of my personal parenting.

Speaking of personal parenting, Peanut has been having a great couple of weeks. I couldn't have asked for a greater gift from the universe than to have him be happy and settled last week as we approached Pepper's competition.  Even last Tuesday night? When he was up until 2 am? He was pleasant and not stressed and I thank whatever gods are out there for it.  We have been in a state of constantly adjusting meds for the last few months, but luckily we are in the position of trying to find the least and yet best amount of pharmaceutical intervention for him. We are so grateful to have such a fabulous medical and special ed. team - they want our boy to shine through as much as we do.

Tomorrow I will cook a boiled dinner for my lovely husband. He has already packed away the DVD player and our DVD of "The Quiet Man," ready to set the whole shebang up in the waiting room at work and inflict an infinite loop on whatever poor patients await. My children have set a leprechaun trap over one of the heating vents in the dining room, although they never seem to have much luck. We'll see if they don't catch something this year - the whole trap area is cleverly lined with double-stick tape this time, to slow the little bugger down. 

I just hope my milk doesn't turn green again. Greenish instant mashed potatoes are kind of icky, you know?

Comments

[green]

Well CONGRATS! on ... something... :)

[annettek]

I suspect I know this something is because we did it too this year - if it is what I think it is - and I didn't even coach it and it was STILL a huge time suck. Does winning mean you move on to another phase and so the time suck isn't even over yet?

Glad peanut's doing well these days! xo