The Blistered Boy

Michael was The Drama King this morning. He complained and fussed and moaned and groaned like he was being tortured by demons with tasers, all because his shoulders were sunburned. They were a bit red, yes. I could tell it was painful. But you’d have thought he was fixing to pass out, the way he carried on.

I’ve had worse sunburns. Back in the day, I was telling Michael yesterday on the way to therapy, we only had Sea N Ski or Coppertone. Mother slathered us with Sea & Ski and we still got sunburned, often. We were a lot more hearty when I was a kid. I used to get burned to a crisp several times every summer. I have the wrinkles to prove it. I can remember sleeping being painful where the cool white sheet touched my blistered body.

Michael was really being a baby.

Finally, in the car on the way to school, I said “Son, I’ve put moisturizer on your back and shoulders. I’ve given you aspirin. You’re wearing the softest shirt you own. That’s ALL I can do right now. You need to just suck it up and deal with it. You are not going to stay home because of sunburn!”

Suddenly, he quieted down. It was remarkable.

Michael came home from school today very excited. He passed the 5^th grade CRCT. He was elated. I was not terribly surprised. He’s a smart kid. He didn’t want to go to summer school. He had gone to the Thursday tutoring sessions for the test. However, when you consider that he’s been speaking English less than 2 years and skipped the 4^th grade, it’s pretty remarkable.

He asked me for a reward for passing the CRCT. Mother told him getting a week at the beach was reward enough.

Michael was supposed to play his next T-2 tennis match this afternoon, but it was sprinkling and we changed it to tomorrow. We’ve had so much rain it has made it really tough to schedule the matches. Everyone is so busy, too, that it’s tough. If you’re not familiar with T-2, it’s a service that schedules tennis matches for people of the same age bracket and skill level. So far Mike has lost all his matches but one, but it’s good practice for him to do these singles matches. Maybe after some more lessons and the tennis camp this summer he will improve his singles play. He’s going to tennis camp the first two weeks in June, but it’s only for an hour a day.

When I came home from work I loaded up the family and took Mother and Alesia to get haircuts. Michael and I went to Walgreens. He complained bitterly the entire time. “I can’t wear a shirt. It HURTS!!!”

 

“Michael, if you don’t wear a shirt, they won’t let us in the store!”

 

I bought some last minute items to take to the beach, and some Lidocaine with aloe. The only good thing about listening to Mike’s endless kvetching is knowing he will NEVER forget sunscreen again. Not even on a cool, cloudy day.

 

I want to go to the beach NOW.

This is the only decent photo of my mother pregnant. It was 1959, so Bruce was in there. I wasn't born yet. So were other relatives of mine, pictured here, but for the sake of their privacy, I won't name them. See the bracelet Mother wears? It's in my jewelry box right now.