Dat way!

New haircut.
New t-shirt.
New way of getting home from the park.

It was lovely to see the Boy Wonder completely back on song today - virus-free, happy, mischievous and eating like a horse. Well, a small horse at any rate. A Shetland pony, maybe.

A small incident occurred when we had to leave the park at the end of the afternoon, and the Boy suddenly turned uncooperative. R's strategy for dealing with these situations is to negotiate for a short span of time, then explain that whatever it is is going to happen (because), and give him the choice of doing it voluntarily or having it imposed on him. More often than not he chooses the former with only token complaint, but today, though he did come of his own accord, he was clearly very put out. After a few minutes walking:

R: "Are you my best boy?"

B (scowling): "No."

R: "Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. Why not?"

B: "I didn't want to go home."

Talking about things is key, of course, and this exchange gave R the opportunity to acknowledge B's feelings while explaining the inescapable limits on our time. He then asked if B would maybe like to ride on his shoulders, and with the flick of a switch the initial scowling "No," changed to "Yes. I would."

It's upwards of 30 years since R last carried a small boy on his shoulders, and the experience made both of us a bit emotional. B, calmly riding Granddad's shoulders like a seasoned pro, was far too busy directing operations to be in any way concerned with the meaningful glances his Oldies were exchanging from slightly pink-rimmed eyes. Once back at home and having eaten his third banana of the day (not my nappy change, therefore not my problem), B and R did some excellent construction work on towers and train tracks, and B pronounced them to be "Best fends" once more.

Over on my Facebook page, if you'd care to see it, is my moth of the day.