A Trophy for Henry

Henry got his snorkel set Monday night. Tuesday it rained all day. Tuesday Henry whined all day. He demanded to go swimming, cursed the rain, the cool weather, the lightning, and me. We stayed home and built things out of Legos. Henry continued to whine and complain. I only just managed not to go insane. Wednesday was much better. No rain, no thunder or lightning. Blue skies with big fluffy white clouds, not too hot, and the pool water was the right temperature. Henry had a blast. He mastered the snorkel, learned to swim slowly and to float on his face, and he taught himself how to swim backwards. He was so proud of himself that he announced that he needed a trophy.

Nee-nee was prepared and provided the trophy, that very afternoon, in the the form of a Fushigi ball. The ball had just arrived that very day in the mail. Apparently they'd seen an ad on TV and Henry had asked for the floating ball. They were both a little disappointed when they found out the whole floating thing was an illusion. I thought it was kind of funny, though. We sat and watched the video that came with the ball and I helped Henry understand that even though the ball looked like it floated, "The Amazing Kenny" had spent many years practicing in his grandma's basement so that one day he could impress people with his sleight of hand magic and finally get a girlfriend. Of course I later regretted my sarcasm when I found out that Henry thought that everything I'd said was true, and so I had to further explain that I was only teasing and knew absolutely nothing about "The Amazing Kenny" or any alleged basement dwelling.

Henry loves his trophy, though, and any initial disappointment was completely eclipsed when he was able to amaze some of his friends with the ball later that night.

Hurray for the Amazing Henry!