Benched

The weather has turned ugly again, 90 degrees and muggy. We've folded away the sweatshirts and long pants we were wearing earlier this week and brought out our shorts. Once again, the air conditioners are humming up and down the block.

"What's going on with the weather?" I asked Tab. "It's either 60 degrees and damp or 90 degrees and humid. Why can't it be 75 degrees and dry?"

"We had that day, remember? It was the day Dans and I went to the airshow. That's it for the spring."

If nothing else, the wet weather has contributed to lush vegetation. Everything is vibrantly green. Some of the roads around Princeton are so overgrown with trees and bushes that it feels as though we are driving through a green tunnel.

As much as I complain about this year's weather, I certainly prefer it to last year's drought.

The boys started back to their swimming lessons last weekend. Along with his brothers, Matthew had three swimming classes on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday before he broke his arm Sunday night. Although his cast cover is waterproof enough for bathing, we don't think it would protect the cast if fully immersed in the pool, so Tab called Lauri, the swim program director, and explained the situation. She kindly agreed to refund us the money for the remaining three classes in this session that Matthew will miss as well as for the next session, which starts this Monday.

Lauri also told Tab that if one of the boys breaks a limb again, we should ask for a waterproof cast. Neither Tab nor I had ever heard of such a thing, but Lauri told us that she's had several students in the swimming program who have had waterproof casts and were thus able to continue their lessons.

Since Matthew's cast is not waterproof, he's sidelined until the middle of July. The poor little guy found it very difficult to watch his brothers frolicking in the pool while he had to sit with Tab and me on the bleachers and sweat in the chlorine-laden humidity. He and Tab occasionally walked down to the other end of the pool to watch Daniel and the other level 6 kids, but this wasn't enough to keep Matthew diverted for the full forty-minute class.

Tab has agreed to take Daniel and Stephen to swimming class on Saturday and Sunday so that Matthew can stay home with me. Then on Monday we start another session of after-school classes, Monday through Thursday for the next two weeks. I'm going to see if Stephanie can take Matthew for a few of those days. She's especially fond of Matthew and would probably enjoy the chance to spend some time with him by himself.

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