Waiting

I am tense today. We meet the doctor this afternoon. He will tell us if Riley can do things again. Can Riley be normal? Tom is planning to send Riley up in a plane if he can, and launch rockets at a park for fun. Lovely things that go boom and crash. Tom asked me about sending Trevor with Riley in the plane. I told him an adult has to go with either boy. They can not go with just the pilot. Say something happens, like Riley gets a bloody nose or if the boys go together and they start to fight.

I know the boys well. If Riley shows a hint of fear in the plane Trevor will point it out and antagonize Riley. If only to hide his own fears. Riley will retaliate and get angry. Without an adult other than the pilot, those boys, given the right circumstances, can be a nightmare.

Tom gave the boys DS's for a road trip once, thinking it would keep them occupied and avoiding fighting. He provided four different games. We hadn't even gotten to the freeway before they were fighting over who gets to play which game first. Tom had to pull over and have words with the boys.

Riley doesn't like to be splashed unless he has water goggles. He needs the full face snorkel style that covers his nose. Then splashing is not a problem. Trevor loves to see if he can get Riley mad. He will sneak up in the water and try to catch Riley off guard. Trevor has no problem with water whether he has goggles or not. Trevor was a fish in a previous life.

So I can see those boys in the little plane, getting comfortable with their surroundings, then getting board with the confinement, then looking for entertainment by turning on each other.
All in good fun of course. But to the misery of the pilot, who must sit through it all and listen.

Tom took the boys on a fishing trip last year. He hired a guide and boat because on all the previous trips they had never caught a fish. This was a guarantee. He told me afterwards the guide had to lay down the law with the boys. Tom loved it. He just sat back and enjoyed having someone else scare the boys into obedience.

I told Tom just this week the boys had been getting along wonderfully recently. It has been a long stretch of love and peace. Riley loves it when his brother gets home from school and he has someone to play with him. The flaw is that when Trevor gets happy, he gets loud. He doesn't need a fog horn. He has a slight hearing loss in one ear from childhood ear infections. I blame that for his loud voice. He doesn't know how to whisper. So if the boys fight the pilot will be miserable. If the boys are happy, they will be loud, and the pilot will be miserable. Since this is Tom's brilliant plan, I think he needs to go with them to make sure that everyone behaves.
Its one thing to be outside and gleeful, but contained in a small space with loud children is not fun. Tom will make sure they have fun safely and pleasantly.

My sister and I did a glider plane when we were in Sun Valley one year. It was noisy with the wind coming through the little window in the cockpit. I was surprised at how loud the wind was in that confined space. It was the same with scuba diving. You can hear your breath in the respirator gurgling loudly sucking air in and out. It sounds like Darth Vader breathing. Everyone talks about the quiet and peace of these activities. I found it noisy with the air circulating. I even felt a little motion sickness in the glider. We were at 12,000 feet
since Sun Valley itself is at a high elevation. I saw a Bald Eagle circling below us. It was an exciting day and left an impression, but I don't think I need to repeat it.

I think that is what we are after with Riley. A one time exciting event that does not need repeating at least any time soon. Why can't we get a boat? They are exciting, the wind blows your hair around. They are noisy. But there is a peacefulness associated with them. They are also on the ground not a mile in the air. I remember bouncing along in my Dad's ski boat. The same rules would apply with Riley. He has to have numbers to take the bouncing. But I could see going out on the weekends and enjoying the river. Tom likes boats. We now have a car that can pull a boat. The hitch is already attached.

Boating is much more my thing. Like golf, its a sport that as we grow old we can still participate in. A friend told me our husbands would give up the mountain biking and the kayaking and down hill skiing, so to find a sport that you can do together in your old age. Golf is good, so is boating.
I think the boys would get into boating.