We took a meeting with Tall Paul. He is convinced that the swampert2000 blog is the basis of a book. Can't say that he is the only one with this idea. A lot of folks who read the blog felt that it was a springboard to something. I don't really get it but i like idea of keeping the blog alive and the writing is fun. One of my first assignments is to flesh out the story of the midnight swim.
We were on Samos tucked into a beautiful little corner of coast, just past a slightly sleepy beach town with bars, markets, restaurants and Greek Salad.
Ensconced in a nice pension. 2 bedrooms, a little deck over the water, and a steep five minute path featuring loose scree that headed down to an isolated sandy beach with tidal pools and supreme snorkeling. We made friends with a big black cat named Obama who had a brood of mistresses with whom he rolled around in the sun.
Despite the idillic setting. The critters were mumbling. No TV, no internet, and the family was still adjusting to life on the road. Sun burns and the homeschooling blues were building. I was beginning to hear things like "we miss our friends," "you guys are the worst teachers that we've ever had," and the always devastating "I'm bored!"
One of my featured parenting techniques is one I call "Keep em Guessing." I developed this one doing therapy with court mandated PINS kids. If you tried the same old shit they would just roll their eyes turn up the headphones and try to make u squirm. My go to move was to explain that the therapy time was "their" time and the moment they let me know that they were interested in interacting in a therapeutic way I was ready to go. However if it was going to be about their head phones and teeth sucking than i was going to catch up on my progress notes and listen to some of the old skoolers that I favored like Heavy D and the Boys. More often than not, the therapy session picked up momentum.
Although Ben and Clare have not yet joined the Crips or Bloods, they certainly are a formidable gang. I needed to go to my "go to" move and keep em guessing.
A midnight swim seemed like a promising option. An unpredictable element. The toughest part was keeping myself awake.
I roused the critters, tried unsuccessfully to rouse jill, grabbed a flashlight and some towels and led a forced march down the steep path to the beach. The twins were exhausted, excited and somewhat freaked out by the sudden urgency in my agenda. With the flashlight off, there was no ambient light and the stars were dripping all over the sky. We had a quick chat about the milky way and then I led a speed charge into the Aegean. The water was warm and buoyant. We floated on our backs, found cassiopeia and splashed around. Towels, huge smiles, a brief photo session and back to bed. We continued to be the worst teachers of all time, but we did not hear "we're bored!" for at least another week.
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