conflict management

 well, that was an experience. we managed to get to laser city early, which gave us plenty of time to walk around and look for non-existent places to sit down and drink something... eventually others started arriving, and mr smear played foosball with some other boys. it was going well, until it didn't, when he got angry with one of the slower kids for doing something wrong :(

then it was time for laser tag. when the guy running the show announced that the teams would be boys vs girls, i thought this would be good because the boys would have no reason to gang up on him, but he ended up being put on the girls team (with a couple other boys) and two thirds of the way through the first round i saw mr smear rush out and find a quiet place to cry.

that sucked.

but then i managed to convince him to try a new strategy: it's a team game, and if those idiots are going to insist on chasing him down and focusing on him, then he should consider himself "bait" and lead them straight to his teammates. he went back in, and came out with renewed enthusiasm after his teammates successfully ambushed his bullies.

that was round one, of two. in the second round he had trouble again, both with the being chased and with one of the kids straight-up cheating. once again, after a quick pep talk he returned and i watched his ranking rapidly jump from last place to fourth-to-last, and i was very proud indeed.

so there was shit, but there was some success, and overall he seemed to enjoy the laser tag itself which is a huge relief. and i'm extremely proud of him for walking back in there and not giving up.

...

on the way home, we took a detour to pick up some stuff for the weekend, but we were still missing a gift for tonight so after stopping at home and eating a quick breakfast, i headed out again. the mission was successful, but i got plenty more exercise in the heat today than i'd planned.

oh, and on the way out i suddenly realized that the mongoose and his family live right next to where the drone exploded, so i felt rather shit for not having contacted them earlier :(

the afternoon was very quiet, resting and doing dishes and playing inscryption. oh, and having a very quick chat with gd about what i saw today and agreeing that it's probably a good time for mr smear to switch schools. his class is full of problem (violent) kids and he really, really got off on the wrong foot. and he's really, really making an effort to be cool(er).

alright, it's time to head out for dinner.