Sherlock wrote this part earlier and I said I'd post it when I finished my bit:
Thank you DW for the spiders, the red one is the best, I've never seen any like it here. Also I'm going to tell everyone about my dream last night where Lestrade was washing tiny elephants in a bowl on the table, there were about six in the bowl and it was a blue bowl but then he cut himself and John made him go and fix it and I had to finish washing the elephants and then one of them wore the juicer thing like a hat. I wish I could have tiny elephants for pets.
I think we all wish that, Sherlock.
So...the bikes, yesterday. We rode all sorts, as you saw on L's post. I still like the one I posted. In red. A lot. In case anyone had doubts. L asked if I was sure I didn't want it in grey, but I think that's because he wants it in grey.
Sherlock and one or more his classmates had to be removed from the pond had to be removed from the pond six times today, Mrs T told me after school, with a warning look. It is a bit warm indoors. I said I'd talk to him about it.
I took him to the park after school with a boy from his class named Colin and Colin's mum. She told me about wanting to raise chickens, which I think might be a bit problematic in London, and that was about it because the boys had managed to have an enormous row in the first ten minutes.
It was of the he's-stupid-no-he's-stupid variety, something to do with Sherlock getting all the best sticks. They'd stopped glaring, mostly, by the time we parted company so I hope they'll both forget about it by school on Monday. I do wish Sherlock had kids his own age he wanted to play with. He doesn't seem at all lonely, but still. Sometimes I worry. I've asked his mum about it, but she just shrugs and says he'll be fine. I get the feeling she didn't have that many friends as a child either.
Anyway, we stayed at the park until almost seven, poking things with sticks and, in his case, wading in every available body of water and asking why he couldn't take all his clothes off and swim and why did it get so hot and couldn't I make it stop? No, Sherlock, I cannot control the weather. He said he knew that, DUH, but it should just be cooler or we should go to the sea or skiing. And he'd like that with a side of tiny elephants.
Thank you DW for the spiders, the red one is the best, I've never seen any like it here. Also I'm going to tell everyone about my dream last night where Lestrade was washing tiny elephants in a bowl on the table, there were about six in the bowl and it was a blue bowl but then he cut himself and John made him go and fix it and I had to finish washing the elephants and then one of them wore the juicer thing like a hat. I wish I could have tiny elephants for pets.
I think we all wish that, Sherlock.
So...the bikes, yesterday. We rode all sorts, as you saw on L's post. I still like the one I posted. In red. A lot. In case anyone had doubts. L asked if I was sure I didn't want it in grey, but I think that's because he wants it in grey.
Sherlock and one or more his classmates had to be removed from the pond had to be removed from the pond six times today, Mrs T told me after school, with a warning look. It is a bit warm indoors. I said I'd talk to him about it.
I took him to the park after school with a boy from his class named Colin and Colin's mum. She told me about wanting to raise chickens, which I think might be a bit problematic in London, and that was about it because the boys had managed to have an enormous row in the first ten minutes.
It was of the he's-stupid-no-he's-stupid variety, something to do with Sherlock getting all the best sticks. They'd stopped glaring, mostly, by the time we parted company so I hope they'll both forget about it by school on Monday. I do wish Sherlock had kids his own age he wanted to play with. He doesn't seem at all lonely, but still. Sometimes I worry. I've asked his mum about it, but she just shrugs and says he'll be fine. I get the feeling she didn't have that many friends as a child either.
Anyway, we stayed at the park until almost seven, poking things with sticks and, in his case, wading in every available body of water and asking why he couldn't take all his clothes off and swim and why did it get so hot and couldn't I make it stop? No, Sherlock, I cannot control the weather. He said he knew that, DUH, but it should just be cooler or we should go to the sea or skiing. And he'd like that with a side of tiny elephants.
69 comments:
Did I cut myself on a tusk?
And it's nice in grey too! Understated...
Do I want to ask about the vague sense of regret??
I just feel like maybe I should be making more of an effort to help him make friends? But he's so violently opposed to just about every idea I come up with.
I feel like we should make more of an effort for both of them... but like you say, what can we do? I don't know.
You can't make kids be friends in fact trying to do that generally turns out worse than not doing anything. You give him opportunities to socialise the rest is up to him.
I'm not always sure of the value of a lot of friends I'm sure he will find someone he wants to be friends with eventually and one or two good friends are all you need in life really :-)
Get the red bike John it is amazing and there are no other bikes but the red one :-) (if you like the grey Greg maybe you need to treat yourself as well as treating John!)
L - yeah, I don't know either. Just wait, I suppose.
Anonybob - thanks. I suppose him wanting to spend time with L and me and Mycroft and Mrs Hudson and everyone is still a lot more people than he wanted anything to do with before, so there's that.
Heh. Nearly matching his&his bikes?
I'd like a tiny elephant also!
I think that the way you are doing things is probably the right way to go about it, if you did much more pushing for either of them then you run the risk of leaving them feeling that not only do they struggle with social interactions but also that they are letting you down as well.
It's always a difficult one. We run 'Social Use of Language' classes at school where someone tries to teach the kids how to talk to other kids. While I undoubtedly needed (and probably still need) the lessons, the idea that even the teachers were having a go at me for being socially inept would have been the last straw when I was at school.
you've brought him a very long way John and the more confident he gets with his extended 'family' (and don't forget that he even bothers talking to us which isn't a small thing) the more confident he will get with others :-)
I may be going to get in trouble from someone for encouraging bike buying again but they are all just so shiny and amazing :-)
Anon - yeah. The last thing I want is to make either of them feel bad. Just want them to be happy really. And Sherlock does seem happy and Mycroft...well, he's happy when he's home, and I think not as unhappy at school as he thought he might be. He has good things to say about it occasionally.
Anonybob - they truly are shiny and amazing.
Yeah, it's hard to take on two geniuses and then try to tell them what's best for them... only ever going to end badly, I think.
All we can really do is be here for them, and hope they know it.
Yeah. I suppose you're right.
I've no idea if I'm right or not. Time will tell.
Going to take me to bed and fan me gently so I'm rested and ready for work in the morning?
I'll do something to you gently. Not sure fanning will be involved.
Mmm, you have succeeded in gently er...rocking me off to sleep. Sort of.
26 minutes, more or less. Not bad, gents. ;) Night!
Okay, here goes...after reading for quite a while I'm delurking (in the middle of the night, no less) to say re: kids and friends. Social interactions are such intricate things at all ages, but particularly with kids that age who aren't yet fully able to articulate their emotions (or necessarily control them), that I think you're right to just set up the opportunities and then see what Sherlock makes of them. He seems to be such a bright kid (genius as you often say) that he's going to have to be the one to set the pace with other kids or he's going to get bored, impatient and frustrated if he's pushed. Just MHO, you obviously know him best.
And on that note, just as a way of saying hi...reading over the last few months, I never cease to be impressed with your parental patience. Sherlock seems to be a lot like mine (almost 5 and smart, although no where close to his league) who just went to sleep after 13 hours of non-stop talking (which included a discussion of whether there were monkeys living in the woods nearby and, if so, did they have a problem with the poison-ivy infestation...oh yes, and do they eat kudzu?). Some days I think my head is going to explode, and yet you never seem to let it faze you...you're a better man than I Gunga Din (well, obviously since I'm not a man...but you get the idea.)
Oh, and just to add...the red one, definitely the red one...
Imachar - welcome and thanks for the tips! Honestly, we're very grateful when you lot help us out on the whole 'raising kids' front, given we're total novices. I hope you stay de-lurked now :)
Hopefully John and Sherlock are off having fun somewhere today.
I get the feeling John's going to get the red one ;)
Hi imachar - nice to see another lurker de-lurking.
I agree with what imachar says. Both boys have the opportunity to meet children/young people their own age so it's up to them to decide how much they want to interact socially. What they are both getting is a chance to learn that all important lesson of how to cope with a group of people who can be very different. One of our Brownies is home-schooled and she is finding just doing things in a group extremely difficult and probably needs a lot of individual attention to help her to cope. However there are 21 other brownies and we've all been at work in the day, so she doesn't get it.
Yay, for John getting the red one. Red is much nicer.
Lestrade they didn't have tusks they were baby tiny elephants and I don't know why you were bleeding you just were.
GL - thanks...and yes, I'll stay delurked now, I might even make an appearance over on the "not boring stuff" blog :) Although I'll be intermittently around for the next few weeks as we're off to the beach today for a fortnight's holiday.
Sorry you don't get to do something fun with the boys today.
SH - Thanks to you too :)
Hi imachar :-) nice to meet you. This place is always very welcoming I've found :-) enjoy your holiday.
Sherlock do you have interesting dreams often? I had one last week about taking an Exam and then losing it before I could game it in! I'd have prefered one about little elephants though.
Hand it in! (predictive text is a pain)
Imachar - have a great holiday. I'll be over here, trying to quash my jealousy.
Sherlock - I frequently have no idea why I'm bleeding either.
What are you up to?
Anonybob they are always interesting but sometimes they're bad too.
Lestrade we're outside now but playtime is almost over and we have to go back in and it's hot inside and Mendia traded me her mobile for a worm but only for ten minutes I can't keep it. Whyyyy can't I have my own, then I could text you all the time!
Bad ones are a pain aren't they! I'm glad you have lots of interesting dreams its a sign of just how active your brain is I guess :-)
Mobiles rot your brain Sherlock ;-)
You don't need your own - you're at school, I'm at work.
Is John trying to play matchmaker in the park? Or is he just chatting up the other mums?
And if he says it's time to go in then that's probably because you're going to get sunburn or something.
Make sure you get your worm back :)
Mendia is here with her big brother who's even older than Mycroft and he says he's going to join the RAF soon so they're talking about that, it's pretty boring. John wants to go HOME inside but I think we should get ICE CREAM which is also inside but better and it's okay I can find more worms so I don't need that one.
Even older than Mycroft? Unimaginable!
Tell you what, if you went home now, maybe we could meet up at the outdoor swimming pool when I knock off work tonight?
YES!!!
right, but that means you definitely need to get out of the sun and rest now, or you'll get burned and have no energy to play anyway.
We can practice diving again if you want?
We're home now. :(
Hey, Kiddo, I'd do anything to be home now, it's not that bad!
What are you doing? Is it fun? I could help!
Not much fun, no, reading reports, prepping files for the CPS, trying to work out next week's schedules. All while looking up at the blue sky and wishing I was under it, not stuck in here.
Imichar - welcome! And don't be fooled, I just don't post about it when I get frustrated. I go and bang my head against a convenient wall instead. Hope you have a lovely holiday.
You should go and do it outside. Mrs T lets us have class outside sometimes when it's nice. What's CPS?
Sadly, because it's all sensitive information, I can't really just take it out of the office to get blown around the park.
The CPS is the Crown Prosecution Service. Once we've collected all the evidence they say whether we can go to court and try to convict the person we think is guilty. If they don't think we have very good evidence they can tell us we're not allowed to charge the person. So everything has to be exactly right and then given to them to check for them to decide.
Imachar - He's not lying. There's a dent in the living room wall the size and shape of his forehead.
And I spelled your name wrong, didn't I? Sorry!
L - how's your day apart from the paper work? And what time are we kidnapping Mycroft tomorrow?
Imachar - It's why he just calls me L. Can't misspell it.
Day isn't bad. I have bought everything required for Pimms.
Kidnapping early. About half 8. Need to get him away before chapel!
It's all the head banging. It's addled my brain.
Sounds perfect. Is the Pimms for tomorrow or tonight? Or both? (My first image was your team sitting on the roof and drinking Pimms with loads of fruit in, but I suspect that's more amusing than it is accurate.)
Both. Lots of Pimms for the weekend.
Trying to finish early and get to swim with you before eurovision. Can we get takeaway? Won't have time to cook between swimming and singing.
We can get anything you want as long as it's not pizza.
Why's pizza off the menu?
John, my ersatz wedding china is actually quite pretty. It's ecru with a gold band around the edges that disqualifies any of it from going in the microwave. The only time I've used it is when I had my immediate family over for my first Thanksgiving in my current apartment (I have issues with the historical reality of Thanksgiving, but it was the first time I could get both my parents and my brother over to my new place at the same time). And the oven quit working halfway through the meal, which, hilariously, caused everyone to spring into action and declare it the best meal they'd ever had.
Hey, Sherlock, as soon as I saw mention of your tiny elephants, I thought of this statue that I bought on one of my many trips to India. In case you can't tell what the statue is, it's a small (it fits in my hand) elephant that has a lattice back so you can see the smaller, lattice-backed elephant inside, which in turn has another smaller elephant inside. It's carved from a single piece of marble. I also have a tiny version (four of them could fit on my pinky finger) but it broke during one of my moves. If you go to India, you'll see a lot of different animals carved in this way - turtles, fish, etc. - but elephants are my favorite, so that's why I bought those.
Stay cool, all of you, and have fun with Mycroft!
L - I had a bad Pimms-and-pizza experience once, related to vomiting upside down.
Innie - that does sound quite nice. Ha, nice to have supportive family, too. :)
But how do they get the elephants inside the other elephants?? Are there little doors in them?
Go on then, entertain me with that story.
Curry? Fish and chips we could get on the way back?
Fish and chips would be good.
There was a lot of both, and fruit chunks, and possibly tequila, and then, I forget what they're called, those races where someone holds your ankles and you walk on your hands. And then pineapple in my sinuses. It was all Murray's fault as usual.
Sherlock - what they do is take a single block of marble and then carve the biggest elephant and then use finer and finer tools to carve the inner ones. The elephant in the middle has his feet resting on part of the elephant on the outside's belly, and the elephant in the middle's belly is a resting place for the elephant on the inside's feet. Does that make sense? Maybe this picture helps?
I'm off to cook and then meet some people, but I'll check in tomorrow to make sure these tiny elephants haven't blown your mind. Have a great day!
John, those are wheelbarrow races over here. And yes, my family can be absolutely great. What made it especially hilarious, though, was that they had all been epically cranky when everything was going well and they were supposed to get a wonderful meal. Once the shit hit the fan, though, they became much happier. I was thisclose to tears of frustration with the oven, but then I just had to laugh.
I feel no guilt in laughing at that John ;-) sounds painful though!
We have all the supplies ready for eurovision and two children who've had a nap so they can stay up late! bring on the flashing lights, bad music and hilarious costumes :-)
That's AMAZING.
Okay, now I really am off to make eggplant parmesan, but I just had to leave a quick note. Next time I'm in India, Sherlock, I'll pick one up for you.
Great. I'll try and leave soon to get to the pool.
I'll be on the bike, so I'll pick up food on the way back if you two get the tube.
Remind me never to feed you up before certain.... positions. ;)
Just don't feed me Pimms and pizza!
Right, we'll see you there.
I want turtles!!!
Sherlock! 'I want turtles' is not the proper response when someone offers you a gift!
I mean thank you!! But also I want turtles please!
That's...slightly better. Sorry, Innie. Please feel free to ignore any turtle-related demands he might add later if I miss them.
Sherlock, please try to remember your manners. People will be much more likely to get you things if you're polite.
Danger - got it. But still, safer sober and on a light meal ;)
Just get in and I'll catch up with you.
Obviously take me some shorts...
You're not going to go in your forensics suit and boxers??
I think that might count as perverted. And, weirdly, the suits sort of catch air and bits seem to inflate and stuff.
If you don't take me shorts I will swim in my boxers though.
I will bring you shorts.
Does this mean you were wearing one last time you went accidentally swimming in the Thames?
Since I'm not watching eurovision, the next best thing is my Twitter feed while its going on. I'm not seeing it, but I'm having fun imagining it!
Hope the swim was fun - just got out of the in-laws pool myself and getting ready for a margarita and a burger. Hope everyone enjoys the weekend!
Hi John, thanks for the welcome...and don't worry about the name, it's pretty non-standard, so it takes most people a few tries. And there are a few holes in my walls too.
Greg - when it comes to raising kids, we're all novices - I had my one (and only ) at 43 and I have no idea what I'm doing half the time - that's why we all need these lovely virtual communities.
And don't be too jealous - we made it to the beach, about 24 hours ahead of the imminent approach of Tropical Storm Earl. But I do hope you get some kind of break this summer, as unlikely as that is with the Olympics and all.
Thanks everyone else for the warm welcome, I'll be around..although wifi at the condo is iffy, so it'll be intermittent
Okay, so sub-tropical storm BERYL, not Earl.
Something struck me last night John, going back to the start of this post about Sherlock making friends. He met Jo and Lisa for the first time at the dinner didn't he? But by the end of the night he thought they were great and was excited about the idea of spending time with them when you and L were 'being boring'. I know they aren't his age but isn't that quite a big step for him? Making friends so quickly?
It just made me think that Sherlock was actually making big strides towards people and that it might not be all that long, given the opportunities you give him, before he's at the point of making friends with people a little closed to his age. :-)
I hope todays adventures are fun and that the four me you have a great time :-)
I'll keep "turtles" in mind next time I'm in India, Sherlock. And no worries, John and Lestrade - I've got nephews not much older than Sherlock whom I see often, so I'm now adept at reading enthusiasm as politeness.
It got very muggy very quickly here in New York, and I'm trying to beat the heat by sleeping with the windows open. Too bad my next-door neighbors are the types of idiots who start their parties around 1 in the morning and really hit their stride around 3 or 4. It doesn't seem to matter how often I remind them that sitting outside in the garden means that everyone else can hear everything they're saying at the tops of their lungs (last night: a spirited discussion of Colonel Sanders, the KFC mascot) and that they're disturbing everybody - the couple above me has a two-year-old and a newborn! - because they honestly do not seem bright enough to remember that the next night. Anyway, I'm up now! Might as well get a start on the day!
you make a good point Anonybob it wasn't the easiest of circumstances for Sherlock to meet them but he still took to them well.
Shows the work you've put in to helping him John!
Post a Comment