Alessia returned with Luca in tow, still in his pajamas. I like his style. Weekends are definitely for relaxing. I suppose I’ll appreciate them more now that I work after living a life full of leisure. I appreciated weekends as a child, though. School is hard work. Speaking of school, I asked how they were doing. Their grades aren’t as good as I’d like, but they’re not failing. I suppose with the way things are, we can’t ask too much more of them. But I’d love if they tried harder.
After breakfast, I returned to the kitchen to prepare a special treat to enjoy after our outing. I told the kids they could play for a little while, but as soon as the cupcakes were done, we needed to get dressed and out the door. I thought they would opt for a movie or play video games since they don’t have a TV at Ali’s house. But they sat at the chess table and played a peaceful round. So proud!!
I got us started at the bowling alley to show them how it’s done. Alessia and Luca were my personal cheerleaders behind me; it was so cute. I didn’t make a strike, but I knocked a few pins down. That’s a pretty good warm-up round, I think.
Luca strode confidently to the ball and tried to lift it with one hand. It surprised him how heavy it was. Whoops. I guess that was an important detail I left out. He almost fell backwards under the weight, but he found his balance and tossed the ball toward the pins as best he could. I thought about that time I fell in the same situation, and Mommy completely lost her cool. She was always so high-strung about me. I won’t let anything bad happen to my kids, but I don’t think there’s a need for hysterics. Like, she actually yanked me out of the bowling lane, dragged me back to the rental, and started packing my things. I wasn’t even hurt! If I weren’t so embarrassed, maybe I could have told her to chill.
Luca’s ball went straight into the gutter, and I was fully prepared for hugs and encouragement. But when he turned around, he smiled. I’m glad he’s not a sore loser because we don’t always win in life. And we can’t expect ourselves to be perfect when trying new things. Alessia heckled him, of course. I rarely get involved in their squabbles because most of the time they are meaningless. But this was different. I told her it wasn’t nice to make fun of someone for messing up on the first try, especially when they are doing something she herself had never done before. Because if the shoe were on the other foot, we’d never hear the end of it. She apologized, though. That’s one less lesson I’ll have to teach.
