A Bowling Breakthrough

We had three very Benny moments today.

1. Today at Homeschool Bowling League, which I march myself to by the elbow every week because Benny loves it so much, he bowled a STRIKE. A real strike, straight down the middle of the lane, not using the bumpers to ricochet the ball! It was a glorious moment. He turned around, pumped his fist in the air, and shouted: "GOAL COMPLETED." Not "Yes!" or "Yeah!" or "Strike!" or whatever the other children typically say, but "GOAL COMPLETED." On the way to the van he told me he was going to cross this off his list of goals. The existence of a goal list was news to me, and I asked him what else is on it. The answer: "Bowl a double strike." HAHAHA. Lofty!

2. We were driving through downtown Norfolk and we saw, moored by the Spirit of Norfolk, a really big, cool, tall ship that was clearly from some Scandinavian country, or maybe the Netherlands, or... something? I couldn't remember what the flag was supposed to be from. I asked Benny if he knew, and he thought it might be Norway, but I knew it wasn't Norway. So, anyway, I whipped out the cell phone and tossed it to Benny so we could blog it and then ask Dan. He's pointing the phone out the window, and I'm sitting at a red light saying, "Take the picture! Take the picture!" and he's saying "Where, where?" and pointing the camera all over the place. Now, keep in mind we have just been discussing this flag that we were BOTH looking at and guessing the origin of, and now he can't even find the SHIP to take a picture of it? I said, "Benny, the BIG SHIP that's RIGHT OVER THERE." And he said, "Oh, it was behind that tree." Click. Green light. Move on.

3. Later, it is group violin class. The children are playing a piece (Waltz from Book 2 for those of you Suzukians out there) that requires some swaying and movement -- a piece you're supposed to feel. And Mrs. Stevens said for them to be more "emotional." One of the older girls objected to the use of the word "emotional" because in common usage it is synonymous with crying. So Mrs. Stevens asked them to come up with a better word and then turned to Benny and said, "Benny, do you know another word for emotional?" and Benny said, "What do you mean by emotional?" He delivered the word "emotional" as if it were a word in some strange foreign tongue from a forgotten era. Now, Benny is actually very emotional, and very in touch with his emotions. He sometimes even now recognizes that other people might be having emotions too! But it just seemed like such a hilariously typical hyperlexic response, I had to guffaw. What do you mean by this... emotional? *cackle*

Tomorrow is all about packing for Disney World. Must not forget mouse ears.

Homeschool Bowling

I am not a bowler. I do not, how you say in America, bowl. Part of it is that I don't do sports that are also games. Part of it is that I was scarred by a gruesome experience with a bowling shoe when I was small. Let's not talk about it. It'll only get me clawing at my throat and calling for someone to open a window, a door, break down a wall, anything. *pant pant*

There was one incident, when I was young and foolish. A few friends and I went to something called "Cozmic Bowl" at The Waveland in Chicago. The Waveland achieved a cosmic effect by turning on black lights and making the wall murals glow. Very intriguing. We all took on fake names and threw our balls wildly around. I think I told people my name was Bernice. Pronounced BER-niss. My memory of this night is sketchy, but I do recall getting an onion ring with a perfectly cold center, and making everyone feel it. There may have been disco balls. There may have been fog machines. Who knows?

Benny decided he wanted to go bowling last year. I don't know where he got the idea; perhaps from the Simpsons. The idea persisted but I resisted, mostly because I hadn't been bowling for over 20 years, hadn't ever been bowling in this town, and was afraid we'd run into a bowling alley full of people like me at 21, pretending to be Bernice and striking a pose after every throw.

Fortunately, some kind soul arranged a Homeschool Bowling League and on Thursday we went to it.

Sadie and Benny both got shoes. Here's Sadie checking to make sure her shoes still let her twirl her dress:

Benny instantly made a friend, and before I knew it the kids were both set up in a lane, and the balls were flying.

They had bumpers in the lanes to stop the balls from going into the gutters, and they also had this lovely ramp that allowed Sadie to lift her ball up to waist level and then shove it down the ramp, rather than just pushing it out into the lane and waiting 45 minutes for it to get to the other end.

Benny and Sadie absolutely adored bowling. I'm so grateful to the kind souls who organized this event, so that we can go hang out every week and Benny can get his bowl on in a safe, homeschooly environment. Hooray!

Here's Benny's blog about the subject.