Reasonable assumptions

At the beginning of the summer I was second-guessing myself. I had signed Zach up for all-summer beach camp, but I just wasn't sure if it was the right thing or a good thing for him (not to mention he kept insisting he didn't want to do it). Was I asking too much of him? Would he cause trouble? Would he...make friends?

Fast-forward to Friday, the last day of beach camp. That morning he had had a playdate with Lucas, his new best pal from camp, and they ran off to the beach together holding hands. When I came to pick him up, all of the counselors surrounded the car to give Zach a huge farewell. The head counselor told me, "We loved having Zach at camp. Each day, we would look for your car and we would hope he was coming. He is so much fun, and so funny, and he was just a total joy to have at camp." Then she told Zach, "Zach, I hope you come back next summer. And I hope you never lose your creativity and your great imagination."

My head was spinning as I drove away. Our Zach? Winning the hearts of a bunch of counselors? Well, sure, I guess....Hey, wait a minute! I did the fastest u-turn possible in the electric car and sped back to the camp pick-up zone. "Do any of you babysit?" I asked them breathlessly. "Yes!" came the answer. I drove Zach home with a huge smile on my face and a phone number in my pocket.

I had the same sort of reservations last week when I signed Zach up for skateboard camp. Would he listen to the instructors? Would he make friends? He didn't know anyone at the camp ahead of time. At the end of the week, the head counselor told me, "He's an amazing kid. He doesn't listen all that well, but he just wants to get out there on that skateboard. He wants to try everything. And if he doesn't get it right the first time, he just wants to keep trying it until he gets it." Uh, yeah. That's our Zach. So I signed him up for another week.

This morning I had registered the boys for something that sounded like a lot of fun ... to me.  It's an event sponsored by our city that is kind of like a kids' triathlon, except it's a swim, a run, and then a crazy, muddy obstacle course. After you cross the finish line, you get sprayed off by a huge hose connected to a firetruck. Nod silently to yourself if you think this would be a fun event for kids. Thank you.

But this morning the response I got was anything but enthusiastic. "I don't want to do it." "I want to stay home." "I don't want to do the swim or the run." "It does not sound like fun at all." So Dave and I basically dragged the boys kicking and screaming to this thing.

For Zach's age group, the kids had to swim 25 yards (one length of the pool). If you've seen Zach swim, you can imagine how this went. He basically cannot swim but he is bound and determined to get from one end of the pool to the other. So even though it took forever and looked terrible (I'm sure the lifeguards were ready to jump in at any second), he made it across the pool. He got huge applause at the end, and when he poked his head up, he knew that he was the last one to finish in his heat. "Will I still get a medal?" he asked Dave worriedly. When he was assured, "Yes!" he bounded ahead into the 1K run and obstacle course. I have never seen a kid more proud at the finish line.

Luke was incredibly nervous about the swim (50 yards; two lengths of the pool), but he had a friend with him and they had decided to swim together, so they waited until the very last heat when they could claim a lane together. Two kids per lane, eight lanes. And by the time they finished the first lap, Luke was right out ahead of the pack! I couldn't believe my eyes. He looked strong and...can I even say confident? He came in third in the swimming heat out of 16 kids. He slowed down a little bit on the run, but on the obstacle course, he even seemed to be having...what do they call that thing again? Oh yeah - fun. I didn't want to get into an "I told you so," but... I told him so.

We capped off a great day today with a special kids' comedy show at a local comedy club. If you know Luke, you know what it sounds like when he gets started laughing. Now imagine that sound magnified by 90 minutes - coupled with the sound of Zach laughing so hard he falls on the floor. Yes, that was my special treat for the day. I'll have that happy sound in my head for a long, long time.