Host Parents

 

We are two months into our experiment in parenting a son -- otherwise known as being host parents.

While we were spending Parents Weekend at Muhlenberg, Yoran spent Halloween weekend with my parents. He went trick or treating with Hayden (a first for him), and went to a friend's costume/birthday party. 

The weekend gave Don and I a chance to recharge. We realized we are not in the mood to parent. He is a good kid. He is sweet, but in a conniving way (not as slimy as Eddie Haskell, but truly knows how to say what will get him what he wants). He is also a big procrastinator and knows how to do what needs to be done in order to get what he wants. 

Very unlike Ashley.

I hesitate to put my feelings out here because of hurting someone's feelings, but the bottling up of thoughts never works for me.

He is not a bad. He is just here all the time. He needs rides because he is not allowed to drive (nor would we want him to drive one of our cars). When we eat out he orders the most expensive item, so we've taken to not taking him out for dinner (which limits what we can do). We took him into Philly and he didn't seem to care. I think he would have been just as happy at home talking to his friends.

Meanwhile I feel like doing things again because after nearly 20 months of a pandemic we can. I want to travel. I want to see shows. I want to get out. I don't want to be locked into the school calendar and his school activities. We did that for 13 years. Another year feels like too much.

I hope he is having a good time. He certainly seems to be making a lot of friends. If only they were closer and he could walk to their homes, at least they are closer than Ashley's friends were in high school.

We had thought about taking him away this weekend, but as he doesn't seem interested in going places and orders the most expensive item on the menu, Don and I opted to stay home instead. In two weeks we are going into NYC to see a Broadway show. Hoping we get more enthusiasm out of that experience. Don and I want to see more shows, but since it is not his thing we don't want to take him. Mom said he can stay with her, which is nice.

The first marking period is nearly over. There are three more to go.