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| Photo credit: http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1412868-minecraft-model-exporter-for-craftstudio/ |
On Monday, February 17, my 6 year old had his adenoids taken out. Before our initial ENT visit, I didn't know that adenoids were a thing. But they are, and my little man had big ones. I was, as you can imagine, very pleased with him. After all, this is America, and you go big or go home here. Regardless, the doctor seemed to think this was detrimental to my son's ability to breathe freely, and they would have to go. Additionally, he would be out of school for the week following the procedure to ensure the healing process would be completed successfully.
Now that we are a full two months removed from the time spent, and he has come through like an absolute champ, I've decided to ask him about his week home with dad. The account that follows is a comparison of how he and I viewed our week together. His account, while typed by me, is written by him.
1. What happened to you during the week of February 17?
Me: I was off from work because it was our February break. We made an appointment for Max to have his adenoids out because he would be able to stay home from school all week.
Max: My adenoids got taken out.
2. What did you do each day?
Me: Monday was the surgery. We woke super early to get him to the surgery center, and they had him in the room in relatively short order. We were impressed. Then my wife went to the see him as he was coming out of the anesthetic, and it was chaos. He was so shot out. Poor kid.
Tuesday through Friday we had a steady diet of Minecraft, movies, and naps. We bought him the Star Wars trilogy (4-6 if you had to ask), and he loved them. Obviously. On Thursday, the two of us went to see The Lego Movie. I laughed a lot.
I know full well that he needs to be ready for the barrage of assessments coming for the spring, so I also attempted to get him on the computer as much as possible. I wanted him to start typing training. I wanted him to get used to doing more demanding math items. He worked pretty hard on the sites I gave him.
Max: I played minecraft with my dad.
3. What was your favorite part of the week?
Me: I think my favorite part was hanging out with him. We did everything together. Played games, watched movies, snacked, talked about stuff. It was really special to be able to connect with him.
Max: That I got to stay home.
4. Did you learn anything about each other?
Me: I leaned that he has a lot of tenacity. He is patient in the way he plays Minecraft and will wait things out to make sure he can keep building and growing. I learned that he is still a little boy despite being very bright. He had a hard time coming out of the anesthetic, and he was very scared. Never one to cuddle, he latched onto my wife tighter than I've seen from him in a long time.
Max: no.
5. Was there anything that surprised you?
Me: I was surprised at his literal interpretation of instructions and also by his ability to eat ice cream for every single meal for 4 straight days (Dr's orders - not just parents spoiling a young man). True story. Pudding wouldn't even do. "The Dr said ice cream, dad. I have to eat ice cream to heal."
Max: That I got a lot of valentines.
6. What are you most likely to remember about the week?
Me: I loved that week. I'll remember him fighting sleep while sitting on the couch watching movies. I'll remember him starting to go stir crazy late in the week. And I'll remember the way he laughed at me when that creeper sneaked up behind me and blew me up after I had worked to collect so many resources for our giant castle we were building from scratch.
Max: that it was my dogs birthday.
Well, there it is. A quick comparison of the awareness levels of a 6-year-old and his dad. They tell me that someday, that week will become one of his favorite memories of childhood. That's what they say. We'll see.
I've included Max's work here:
