Summer with Christian

Christian

May 29, 2008 and I am home again (wow, I can't believe I almost covered a year in blog postings in 24 hours). I was gone almost a year with only one visit home. Gunter and I, within the five years together, have had several months of separation. First, while he was out of the Bering Sea, then with my move to Virginia, now with my move to Roseburg. Even the few months I was home from May to Sept seems so very short. Three days later Christian is home for the summer.

When Christian comes home for the summer I usually try to let the two have their own space. It's never easy being the step mom especially when Christian's expectation is to try and make up all the months of separation in just a couple of months. Also, I have never been home with an independent child who is encouraged to think like an adult, but who is actually still a child. Makes for some interesting conversations, as well as some friction. Growing up Asian I was taught you do what you are told without any discussions. With Christian he would rather have discussions or at least know "why", or tell you the logic of "why or why not"... I guess that's okay...since it means that Christian is using critical thinking skills. Gunter keeps telling me that Christian is very much like he was growing up. Obviously, they share the same genes!

Christian's favorite activity to do during the summer was swimming. Anne Marie was kind enough to sponsor his week at the YMCA at a swim camp (it was his birthday present). One week of swimming you would think Christian would look like a prune, but instead he ended the week looking like a beet with a horrible sunburn. Most of our summer outings included water, i.e., the public pool, camping at Howard Prairie Resort Lake and fishing. If Christian wasn't swimming, he was gaming on the computer just like his Dad.