Kids are surprisingly tough. This past weekend I learned just how tough. Two summers ago, Isaac was not a great swimmer and didn't like going to the pool at summer camp. He would come home, face as red as a beet, having spent time in the garden instead of the pool. Then last year, we got him a scuba-mask style set of goggles because he was concerned about water going up his nose. It worked and last summer he turned into a a decent swimmer.

Fast forward a year and now, equipped with his beloved scuba mask, he was a virtual sea otter. He talks about the pool and all of his adventures all of the time. But unfortunately we didn't have an opportunity to see this (having buried our backyard pool in dirt about six years ago). So last weekend we decided to go to a local swimming pool and see Isaac in all his glory. For a few minutes he danced and dove around the pool and was so proud of how good he was. Bianca, Ethan, and I were delighted.

But then a lifeguard spoke up. His scuba mask goggles were not allowed. I am lawyer so I sought an appeal and my argument in favor of the scuba mask goggles was denied on appeal. Sadly I told Isaac that he had to take off his goggles. He couldn't he told us. He'd drowned. He needed them to swim. Without them it was over. Sadly, with his spirit broken, he got out of the pool and sat in the grass, crying a little bit every once in a while. As his Dad, it was heart rending to see Isaac go from joyous to crushed. Finally, I couldn't take it. I told him we could go get some new goggles. Wet and cold, he and I hopped into the car and drove to Dicks where we bought new goggles and a nose clamp. 

Returning to the pool, he felt triumphant again. He hopped in and the noise clip fell off. Isaac didn't know what to do. But he knew that I had really made an effort, so he told me that he would try going in without the nose clamp. Bianca and I held our breath as Isaac did. He bobbed under the water, swam around, and then popped out. He was fine he told us. He didn't need the nose clamp and the new goggles were great. For the next hour or so, our little sea otter returned. It was a great day and Bianca and I were so happy with how resilient he was. Kids are amazing and tough.

As a family, we watch very little TV. Isaac has probably seen less than a hour's worth of commercials in his entire life. What TV he does consume is usually streamed and commercial free. But we LOVE movies. We watch a movie probably once a week, unless it is rainy or someone is sick. One of the best movies we all like is the Lion King. Unfortunately, Ethan has not had the attention span to watch the entire thing. Until now.

 Last Friday we tried to watch the Lion King and the magical intro captured Ethan's attention and he hung in for the entire movie. Isaac first saw Lion King when he was a bit older, around three. At the time we were worried about the scene where the Dad dies and so for about a year we always skipped it. When Isaac was around five we let him watch the whole movie and we were deluged with questions: Is the Dad dead? Why haven't I seen this before? Who's fault is it that he died? It was unending. But, we reasoned, Ethan is significantly younger and has a very small attention span. There is no need to skip the Dad dying as he won't pick up on what's going on or, more likely, even pay attention when it happens. So we watched the Lion King unbroken.

 The scene comes and Mufasa (the Dad) dies. Ethan is watching and gets very quiet. The movie is basically silent for three minutes and the entire time Ethan is saying: "Where'd the Daddy go?" Oops. He got it. Parenting is a very fraught and difficult thing. You are never quite sure how to handle something and 99% of the time you just do your best. But kids are rapacious learners and studious observers. They are learning at a much faster rate than any adult and so even when you, as an adult, try to project just how fast they are advancing, you almost always fail.

 Ethan wasn't traumatized by Mufasa's death scene, but he was confused. Which is amazing because that is exactly the feeling the filmmakers were trying to elicit in the viewer. Death is confusing to adults and conveying that in a kids movie is tough. But they did it. Ultimately Lion King has a great message about parents and children and Ethan got that too. Both were a surprise. Kids are amazing.

A few nights ago I got Ethan out of the tub. He was dripping wet, but needed to use the potty. I brought him over to his little john and he did his thing. Then I toweled him off, brought him into his room, and put on his diaper. During this process, he told me that he had a "poopis." I assume, based on all of the potty related discussions at our house, this was a combination of "penis" and "pooper." I asked him what it did and he told me "poop/pee." Funny as this sounds many reptiles and all dinosaurs had an organ that did both pooping and peeing called a cloaca (it also handled reproduction). I asked Ethan where his poopis was and he told me, very much to my surprise, "my head." He pointed to his cranial suture, aka the soft spot. Later I asked him if Isaac and I had one and he said yes. I then ask him where Isaac's was and he told us: "Isaac's neck." I asked where mine was and he replied "Neck too Daddy." So go check the mirror and look at your neck and top of the head. You might just find a poopis there. PS: Don't mention poopis in front of Ethan, it will be the only thing he says and it is dangerously close to a potty word.