Persistence of Bouncing

[dr_pretentious]

One of the parks where Gareth and I like to play has a small basketball court. Today we saw a Chinese father and his two pre-teen kids try to figure out how to shoot hoops. Even I could tell it was an unfamiliar sport for them. Gareth swung in the baby swing and asked me all about what he saw.

G: Guy? Big kids?

Me: Yes, that father is trying to teach his kids to play basketball.

G: Bang bang boom!

Me: The ball bounced off the backboard. They're still trying.

G: More bang bang boom! Again!

Me: They have admirable persistence.

G: Abirabu pesisis?

Me: They have persistence. They persist. They don't give up. Like you when you learned to climb stairs.

G: They have pe'sis'ence of bouncing.

Me: They're bouncing their ball, yes.

G: They have a ball and pe'sis'ence of bouncing.


I have no idea whether he really knows what persistence is, but he's been enamored of his new phrase all day. So am I, of course.

It's been a good week for persistence of bouncing. I finally got back into my writing routine, after three weeks of heavy travel interspersed with dire family news knocked me off my game. All those days I didn't post to my blog, I was adding time I would ordinarily use on email and updates to my writing time, to make a big longhand rough draft push.

And, after a couple of weeks of nervewracking tests, it looks like my brother-in-law has a fighting chance against his illness. We are all very happy here in Averyland, especially because some of the test results on the way to this moment suggested there might be no chance at all. (Bang bang boom.) It'll be a dangerous year for him, and a strenuous year for all of us, even in the best case scenario. I expect to be in the DC area a lot to help out with my nieces. We will all need our persistence of bouncing.

Comments

[garybart.livejournal.com]

Great to hear some good news on your brother-in-law. And it's always wonderful to hear reports on Gareth. We miss him!

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

We had such a good time with you guys! He's still talking about you both. Every couple of days he asks to go back to Seattle.

[jaime-sama.livejournal.com]

Gosh, I was guessing Gareth was going to be a drummer. Maybe he'll be a poet instead. Or both.

Best wishes to your brother in law. Hugs to you and Dan and Gareth.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

He may well stick with the percussion. His frequent repetitions of "Bang bang boom!" are often accompanied by drumming. The kid's got rhythm.

On the other hand, there was a day a few months ago when he brought one of the cat toys to show me--a sort of feather-duster apparatus on the end of a long, flexible plastic pole. He brandished the feathery end at me and declared, "Flower! Bird!" He knew that it was neither a flower nor a bird, but he wanted to share his first original simile. It felt like the invention of poetry.

Hugs back to you and Gary!

[kistha.livejournal.com]

He's still in my thoughts and prayers and I'm sending out healing energy periodically.

Glad you got some writing done, and hope things get better for us all. The winter in the heart of the gods, it seems sometimes.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

We could all stand to live in less interesting times. Luck and healing to you and dthon, too.

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

Gareth is so wildly entertaining, even by proxy :) I love Gareth Updates!

I am so glad to see good news for Zach and family. We'll all keep on praying and reiki-ing, I know, and look forward to hearing the great news that he's fully recovered :)

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

Sometimes he amuses himself so much, he just stomps his feet with glee.

Thank you for the reiki and everything. As my mom put it, we don't have to be sure that prayers are heard--Zach is sure, and his certainty makes a difference in how he does.

[spiffnolee.livejournal.com]

Sounds like he has pe'sis'ence of memry, too. (badump-bum)

If you're in DC area and need a break, or other kids to play with, email/call us.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was the first thing I thought of, too. It's irresistible.

Today, Gareth is playing with alternative phrasing. He wants to call it determination of bouncing, but the D and the T so close together are throwing him off, so it comes out Dermination. He's so funny when he knows he's having pronunciation problems. His little eyebrows get all scrunchy, and he repeats himself until someone helps him.

I may well be down there long enough/often enough to see friends this year. It's a mixed blessing, having both my family and Dan's in the same area. On the one hand, we don't always have to choose between families for the bigger holidays, but on the other, it's harder to carve out time for friends when there are two groups of blood kin keeping score about who we saw and for how long. They try really hard to be reasonable, and mostly they succeed, but from time to time things go spectacularly awry.

[violet-moon25.livejournal.com]

Great phrase. My kid seems to have more in common with the basketball than the poet ;) but this week we are on vacation where there is plenty of outdoor space.

kids thoughts/language

[(Anonymous)]

this is Karen from Vassar - don't kids minds work in the funniest ways? One of my favorite quotes from Alex - a bit before he was 4 and my husband was explaining addition to him was, "up + down = flat" which seems right to me - interesting way to put it. Though this morning I had to explain to him (he'll be 6 next month) that Niagra Falls was one place, not the name for any really big waterfalls. don't know how he got that... And also, wanted to applaud your use of 'big words' with your son. Even when they can't quite get them out, it's good for them. My husband is much better than I am at not 'dumbing-down' his speech for the kids. So, we have very verbal kids, and people comment on their vocabulary all the time. Isabelle at 2 1/2 can't always make herself understood, but she got a lot of words in a very short period of time.