Aaron and Finn

Aaron's friendship with Finn dates back to preschool, when the two of them, along with Emanuel, were a bit of an infamous trio among the four-year-olds. Now they both go to Wedgwood, and although they are not in the same class, they meet each other at every recess to play. As in, they have a meeting place. They also have a regular succession of playdates and sleepovers. They never tire of each other, rarely fight, and just really cannot get enough of each other's company.

They dress up as Batman and a clone trooper.

 A clone trooper, I'll have you know, can ride a scooter and play an accordion.

 Just the other day they had a good time with dry ice.

 Legos are the go-to.

 But at a restaurant, Uno is another good option.

Finn is also in Wedgwood's after-school program (KidsTime), which is a great thing because Aaron is there five days a week and that program is not what it used to be. Pretty much the entire staff changed over this year, and the new people are just not as skilled with kids, creative with activities, or as physically active as the former staff members (who we loved). It's a bummer, because we don't really have another option; but as I say, at least Finn is there.

Lately, Aaron and Finn have been having a little trouble getting along with their counselors. There are predictable problems like not cleaning up when told to, etc., which personally I suspect speaks to the counselors' skills in getting kids to go along with necessary tasks, but okay. The larger concern is the backtalk. Finn apparently makes liberal use of "the c word," as Aaron refers to it, and for those of you about to be shocked, the c word is "crap." Whew. Finn has also been known to tell the counselors, "Sucks to be you," which I have to agree is maybe a bit much to hear from a six-year-old. Aaron's role in this bad language is not perfectly clear ... he says that he does not say such mean things very much, and I believe him, but I don't think his conscience is perfectly clear, either.

(We have had a couple of lively family discussions about just how mean and angry certain expressions are, and what they really refer to. Yes, I did tell them what is supposedly being sucked when you accuse someone of sucking. Yes, they found this shocking and repellent, as they should at their age. Yes, this discussion made them never want to use this particular expression again or even think about it. Whee!)

The counselors asked Aaron and Finn to write down some "goals" for their behavior during KidsTime, like listening to the counselors and so on. I think this is a good thing to do, but there ought to be something in it for Aaron, too, especially since I think the counselors' lack of skill is probably contributing to the difficulties. So I suggested that along with the "goals," which are things that Aaron should do for the counselors, Aaron could make "requests" for things he would like the counselors to do for him. This document is the result. Aaron wrote the goals, and then I did the writing for the second half. I think it's great.

I hope this helps him have more fun with Finn and less trouble with the people supervising them.