May 25 Brendan sleeps over

Sunday:  I arranged with Brendan and his folks to have him overnight tonight--for a one-on-one encounter that I haven't had with him in years and years. I don't think he has slept over since he was 7 years old! 

Believe it or not, it took a bunch of nerve for me to ask Brendan if this is something he would like ... or would he think I was ridiculous, crazy, and that he was far too old to spend any one-on-one time with me whatsoever. I kind of eased my way into it over the last few weeks as the little kids kept asking to have a sleepover. I would always interject that I first wanted to check to see if Brendan wanted a turn, since it had been so long since he'd had one (this was usually within Brendan's hearing). One of the last times I did this, Brendan interjected that he thought it might be fun to come over and play games, watch a movie, eat popcorn, and eat junk food (!!); so this is how it came about that I picked Brendan up at about 4:00 Sunday afternoon and brought him here with me.

I hardly took any pictures--seriously! I didn't want to intimidate dear Brendan. He is 13--it's not like he is a little kid anymore. 

We played lots of games. First, we played two games of "Fox and Geese". I was the geese for the first game (and lost), and then Brendan was the geese for the second game (and he lost). It's very difficult being the geese in this game, even though they outnumber the fox 15 to 1!

We also played "Apple Scrabble" and Brendan beat me 171 to 162! We played a few rounds of a brand new game that had just arrived in the mail (via A'zon) that very morning--I was hoping it would come in time. It's just called "STONES." Each game is pretty quick. There are 20 magnetic "stones" and a "rope" that adjusts into various size circles. The object of the game is to get rid of all of your stones before your opponent does--but as you place each stone into the rope circle, if it attaches to another magnetic stone, you have to take all of the stones that are stuck together. It's very fun actually. Brendan and I were about even playing that game.

I also read Brendan "The Light Princess" which is my favorite fairy tale ever by George MacDonald. It's a short story, but reading it out loud took probably more than an hour. I split it up and read a few chapters and then we would play, and then I would read some more. I KNEW Brendan would find the story interesting and hilarious.

The crux of the story is that a king and queen tried to have children for years and years, and were finally able to have this princess. At her coronation, they "forgot" to invite the king's sister (who was a witch), so she showed up anyway and put a curse on the little princess which deprived her of all her earthly gravity.

It's really a very funny story, and the chapters are short. The story moves along well. Some of the chapter titles are: "Where IS she?", "What is to be done?", "She laughs too much!" (because the princess thought everything was funny and she never once in all her life ever CRIED), "Try Metaphysics" in which two palace "scientists" are consulted (by the names of Hum-Drum and Kopy-Keck) who have extremely weird notions as to how to bring about a cure for the little princess. Anyway ... it's worth reading! Brendan truly enjoyed it. I was so glad. It has a delightfully happy ending.

I let Brendan choose the movie he wanted to watch. He was very interested in seeing a movie he had seen once before: "Speed Racer". I had never heard of it, but we watched a preview and it seemed harmless enough, so we watched it. It wasn't at all the kind of movie that I would ever enjoy--but I involved myself as much as possible for Brendan's sake. We ate popcorn throughout the movie, and Brendan seemed pleased.

We both slept well Sunday night and were awake at about 7:00 the next morning. We spent a few hours playing more games, listening to some music via Youtube, putting puzzles together, and doing some art stuff. I did sneak a few pictures of Brendan while he was sketching.

Soon, it was time for lunch. I decided to take us out to Culver's--it's where Brendan and I used to eat when he was a little guy. We brought along our STONE game to play while we waited for our food. We got home to Brendan's at about 1:00. 

Aidan and Erin were excited to show me the rope fort their mom is constructing for them. Look how cool it is!

Well ... it's Aidan's turn next to spend the night at my house. I am going to try to be more regular about this one-on-one time with each of the kids. They are growing up so fast. I don't want to waste this precious time with them. Thank you, Lord, for grandchildren--they are so precious.