J finally lost patience with James and indulged in the parenting philosophy that I'm always threatening when I bluster about the kids. She threw him into the pool.
She didn't really throw him in, but from his perspective it was just as bad. She forcibly removed him from the floaty device he'd been hiding in all afternoon, and held him in the pool just herself.
We were cooling off at one of her piano student's homes, a lovely little place set back almost entirely in the woods of a county park with a nice pool underneath. It had been a scorcher of a day, and Owen was hot and cranky no matter what we did with him.
James found the red "car" float immediately and set himself up in it, complained about how he was getting wet once we put him in the pool, and then watched J's five year old piano student do jumps, flips, dives, and advanced strokes from his indolence on the floaty device. He could touch in the shallow end, we kept assuring him, but he wouldn't have anything to do with it.
Finally J declared that he was getting wet above the waist whether he wanted to or not, and would I please hold Owen.
James wrapped his arms and legs around her as tight as he could, and repeatedly asked to get back into the safety of his float. After a few minutes of getting the rest of him wet, we obliged.
When we finally decided it was time to go, he announced that he'd like to try floating with a swim noodle after all.
II. Owen is Still Sick
III. Happy James
"James, can you get Owen his sippy cup?"
"James, please don't play with your dinner, just eat it."
"James, can you see why Owen's crying in the other room?"
"Yes, that's yours, but don't take it from him. Owen you need to give that back, please."
"I'll come upstairs with you as soon as I can put Owen down."
"Hey James...Owen's down to sleep. Want to pick a nice long book and go read it out on the front step with an ice cream sandwich?"
"Oh sure! Do you think we could read Richard Scarry's What Do People Do All Day?"
"That's a long one...do you want to read the whole thing?"
"Oh yeah, that's a great idea!"
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