The Wolverine 8/2/2013

Today was an easy hang as I was going to be away for a few weekends in a row. I thought we would squeeze in a quick meeting. Since we are both fans of super hero movies (for the most part) I thought we’d enjoy Hugh Jackman’s latest installment as Logan in The Wolverine. Of course before we went to the movies, it was important to eat dinner first. I decided that we would go to Subway because it was quick, easy, and provided healthy options. It turns out Jayden was able to discover to make Subway a not so healthy selection as he added bacon and extra cheese and threw three cookies into the mix. Nonetheless, we had a nice dinner (fast, but nice). Time was of the essence as we rushed from the restaurant to the movie theater. We purchased the tickets and then went on the snack line as Jayden proceeded to order nachos and cheese, Snickers bites, and a medium Icee. We walked into the theater while the previews were still playing so we had not missed a beat. The night was a success and all that was left was to enjoy the three-blade healer slay through bad guys.

Although it was fun and easy, this particular meeting raised my awareness on a couple of issues. The first being that Jayden is not necessarily eating healthy when he is with me. His mother, Christy, allows him to have a cheat day if she knows about it in advance, but I don’t completely want him to believe he’s on vacation while he’s with me. It seems he gets a lot of enjoyment out of eating unhealthy foods due to his celebratory comments “this is the best day” “yes, I can get whatever I want.” So I feel that although we’re supposed to focus on having fun, I should guide him on a healthier path and show him that healthy foods can be fun too. I feel if I don’t make an effort in that regard that I would be letting him and his mother down.

The second issue is budgeting his money. He spent well over the $25.00 that he was permitted by his mother. While I had no real issue spotting him the remaining balance, I shouldn’t continue to allow him to go on a spending frenzy. He should learn to utilize the money that he was given and make decisions on what he is spending his money on. Being 11 years old, he is at the age where learning these tools are harmless and very educational. Again, this isn’t really his fault as he doesn’t completely realize that money isn’t expendable because he is still a kid, but incorporating the word “no” in our time together can really benefit him and teach him those boundaries.

Earthtreks - Rock Climbing

7/28/2013 was Jayden and my fifth event. This one was a BBBS organized event with BB&T bank. It was an event for rock climbing at Earthtreks in Timonium. They had rock climbing for two hours along with hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, cupcakes, and candy. Unfortunately, they didn’t have veggie burgers for those who don’t eat meat.

I showed up at Jayden’s place at around 4:15pm as we hung out and played video games for a couple of hours before heading to the event. We left on time and arrived on time. However, silly me, I didn’t have the proper paperwork for us to be able to rock climb. Luckily, we were able to have the form filled out online by his mother Christy so we could both start the climb. This was a fun experience. Although you have support from someone holding the other end of the rope, you still have to work your way up the wall. It’s kind of like chess in that you have to plan out your next move strategically so you can have your feet planted on the proper holds and your hands are resting on a hold with a nice grip for support.

Although it was exhausting physically, both of us were able to climb three walls each. Jayden had struggled on one wall because his feet were too big for him to get strong support on the holds. There was another wall that he was struggling with, but with internal encouragement (the voice inside his head) kept pushing him to go further. He reached the top on all three walls successfully and it was really neat to see. I was also able to climb the walls successfully, but only struggled on one wall because it was difficult finding the best holds. Luckily the anchor man below was helping me with guiding my feet and arms, letting me know where they were (it’s hard to notice them sometimes when you are exhausting your energy and are worried about falling).