This is a good post. Very accurate. I choke up a bit when I read these. People will tell you that your children grow up so fast. They are right. They do. James is not the little boy that he once was, although Jen says he still is this eager little kid. She's right. Such a lovely kid who I absolutely adore.
November 23, 2020
Today
James has spent 256 days in a COVID world. Roughly half of the 366 days
in this year have been spent in lockdown. It's not a year that many of
us will forget. However what this year has given us is an insight into
how James works when he is not at school. The lockdown story is quite
amusing.
When it started in March, his mother decided that we would honour the school timetable and start school at 7:30. This went down like a lead balloon. There was extreme resistance from all in the house. For James it was probably a bit too much. To have school start at that hour and there is no playing with your friends was not on. On top of this, having all the people in the house monitor his every move didn't suit him either. The school was caught like a deer in the headlights and would send us work that needed to be done and no idea as to how we were going to deliver it. In effect his parents and Thuli became his teachers. This was interesting.
Needless to say we all settled into it. I had a lot of fun trying to make his lessons interesting. We would go on safaris around the property to look for symmetrical things. We would write stories together that he would read to us. When school went back, it was every second day, James would come up to my office to do his work. We got a lot done using a focus keeper. I swear by this thing. It ticks away for 25 minutes and then gives you a break. I would sit up here with him listening to his perpetual whistle (that one day will be recorded as a dissonant symphony) whilst he banged away on a computer.
I may have mentioned this in Oliver's missive last month, but we would go out at 7 to clap for the health workers. This led to an exchange of booze with our neighbours and then went as far as all of us having a drink and a chat for half an hour at seven. James came out on his bicycle and would ride up and down the road. UNTIL ONE DAY!!!! When the cops came to arrest those who were outside, they arrived at 19:02, that evening. We didn't go out that night but there was a ruckus with our local plastic surgeon telling the cops to go back to the station and sanitise their van and then bring each person up individually. This does highlight how ludicrous this COVID operation has been. I look back on it now and it's almost unbelievable.
The lockdown did present a number of opportunities for James. He and I made a rope ladder to the roof (not to the moon – although James would be very interested in that). We then created an assault course around the house that James reveled in. But James missed his friends. As the lockdown started heading into the ridiculous so we arranged playdates. James was so happy. He is an extremely popular child who lives for his friends. He has the most incredible ability to make friends. Whilst on holiday in February he and I walked to the swimming pool at the resort. He found two kids playing there. I think the one kid asked James what his name was, upon learning that the kid's name was Blake, James and Blake were inseparable. They did everything together. And that's a feature of James' life. He just gets on with people. He draws them into his vivid imagination and they play games that have a lot of "let's says" in them. These let says happen every two minutes, id est "Let's say we were living on an island with carnoraptors and they want to eat our food and we have blastoLMGs and shoot them and hide up a tree." The next let's say would be "let's say that I am the guy who doesn't have a gun but I make one out of a pterodactyl's beak."
All of this highlights the amazing imagination James has. It's active and needs to express itself all the time. He's full of Nerf gun lore, and must tell (mostly his mother) the new developments all the time. Whilst he loves online stuff like Minecraft, he can still entertain himself for hours building Lego. And when the Lego starts then James pretty much takes over the house, there are Lego pieces everywhere. He has control over a number of rooms and is not know for his tidy up skills. You'll hear a "JAMESSSS!" screamed across the house reminding him to close cupboards, pick up towels, tidy up after himself etc.
It's also been a year where, in spite of the lockdown, that James has started to play a little sport. There is an eagerness, he is not yet as passionate as his older brother, but he is taking part in a few activities. We made use of a personal trainer for a few weeks and James went to every session got stuck in. On top of this he has grown out of his bicycle – he's co-opted his brother's bike.
It's been a year JimJam (or HamJam, Jamfertz or any other nickname that might be used) but you've done well. I think we've all got to know each other very well. You are still passionate and enthusiastic, even with your violin. It's these characteristics that draw people to you. It was a big deal when your friend Fred ended up in hospital and requested to speak to you on the phone. You have this magnetism and empathy and love for your friends. Everyone can see this.
You're nine now. You are growing up so quickly but the little boy in you is still there. Some of the temper tantrum skills you picked up when you are younger still exist, like the swearing under your breath (I want to know who taught him that). These make you, and it's the you that your family and friends love and adore. Happy birthday my perfect youngest son.
And the DJ wants his turn, thank goodness that I control the music on this blog. I could never post the music that my two sons listen to, although James' tastes are far more palatable than Oliver's.
James Phillips
Rather like Frank Zappa, who America really needs right now, South Africa desperately people like Lucky Dube and James Phillips. The song I have chosen is called Shotdown. It's about bodies in the streets shot by the apartheid security forces. It seems that they taught our current people how not to go about a lockdown. There are a number of people who were senselessly murdered during the lockdown - Collins Khoza being the most notable. Phillips would have been devastated to see the country that he sacrificed so much for return to the same oppression as it did during his tenure as an outspoken anti-apartheid activist.
03 - The Cherry Faced Lurchers - Shot Down
James Reyne
Better known in Australia, Reyne fronted the incredible Australian Crawl. They were around in the early 80s and left us with a few albums. Oz Crawl were a fantastic band, great singers, better songs and fantastic musicianship. If this song about business travel doesn't get you off your feet then you need get out and socially distance a bit more.
14 - Australian Crawl - The Boys Light Up
Comments
Post a Comment