http://abouthomemovies.org/2011/09/13/matts-mad-3/
Monday,
Jan. 7: Matt is trying to figure out how to meet his various
obligations these days. He’s got
conflicts between choir and swimming, and band, a bit. He’s also on this demo team, not to mention
his church calling. The grades are,
shall we say, erratic. He keeps doing
the things he’s always done! And yet,
notice that these extra-curriculars are all the result of successful auditions,
or exclusive invitations. Matt thinks
about this. I am smart, he says. And talented, we add, very sincerely. (So shape up!)
Wednesday, Jan 9: Matt has a swim meet. After some good successes, he adds two seconds to one of his events. Which is 50 metres long. That takes some doing, or maybe some not doing.
Wednesday, Jan 9: Matt has a swim meet. After some good successes, he adds two seconds to one of his events. Which is 50 metres long. That takes some doing, or maybe some not doing.
Sunday,
Jan. 27: Spence and Matt and I go home teaching together. Matt gives us a nice prayer, and we have a
great visit with former neighbour/new charge Merritt Fullmer. Next, we go to our friends the Taylors. What a great experience! Spence gave a message derived from last
week’s priesthood lesson, and then Matt shared a very particular, personal
thought about faith. (Naaman, and how
sometimes you don’t actually agree with the thing that’s required of you, and
how the infidel often shows up the initiated).
We’d previously talked about the whats and whys of home teaching, and then the
actual experience lived up to the hype.
Also, my front car door is suddenly frozen. I can’t open it from the inside, or the
outside. Priesthood duty, automotive
disaster. Correlation?
Matt says he forgot a lot of the steps for that presentation of his. We notice that as a sparring partner, he kind of runs away. I’m glad to see that, frankly. This is obviously not cowardice or anything. He doesn’t want to hurt anybody! And did he ever tag that one girl that he didn’t want to hurt!
As mentioned, some of the youngsters had some trouble with those boards. Matt? Boom!
http://abouthomemovies.org/2012/09/14/strong-man-matt/
Saturday, March 2: I take Matt to another rehearsal, and get some more information out of him. He didn’t call us last night because he figured we’d just tell him to come home. He didn’t want to come home, so he didn’t call us. First degree, as in pre-meditated, disobedience. Also, I can see his point.
http://abouthomemovies.org/2012/02/13/matt-busted/
Sunday,
March 17: Home teaching. I
like doing that. Matt expresses his
feelings about us, which aren’t positive.
This is difficult. He’s not very
compliant these days, and it needs addressing.
He’s not doing anything too terribly wrong, so it doesn’t need
overdoing. Of course he’s feeling that
way. Of course we’re behaving this
way. Make it through!
Sunday,
April 7: I tried to get the kids to walk around the ward boundaries a
bit. Spencer was the only one who would
come. Like I was saying. Richard Lifferth stopped us to remark upon
Matt’s performance during their recent hiking adventure.
He said he was kind of unrecognizable.
Being good with and to youngsters is nothing new for Matt, and in that
he was more of the same. But what about
getting to camp, promptly setting up his own tent, and the kids’, and getting
on that stove and making his own meals, and sort of, at least partly cleaning
up after himself? Richard said that he
was independent, reliable, sensible and unfailingly positive. How cool!
It doesn’t escape me that the variable here is our own absence. I don’t know that that is necessarily
unusual, though, or unhealthy. What we
want is that they can do it, and especially without us. I guess, I hope we work out some of the other
complications or unsynchronizations as we go.
Thursday,
April 11: On our way to Caitlin’s house. What a nice drive. We’re not used to such close-by
destinations. It makes a difference. Matt and Claire were in the back the whole
time. They didn’t make a peep, but this
wasn’t for old-days good-kid reasons.
They just had their buds in the whole time. I asked Matt how much of what he was
listening to was fibrous or fruity, or whether it was good for him. He didn’t answer, except with his face.
Tuesday,
April 23: The boys have basketball for Mutual. Matt doesn’t
like basketball. He stayed though, more
or less, and was cheerful. Afterwards he
sat over there in the same room with us, enjoying a book. A little later he cheerfully wishes us a good
night, and then goes to bed. Later I go
down to check on him. That room that
we’ve been telling him to clean since last Saturday—or was it the Saturday
before—is still courageously uncleaned.
http://abouthomemovies.org/2011/09/06/spilled-juice-2/
http://abouthomemovies.org/2011/09/06/spilled-juice-2/
Sunday,
May 19: Bro. Steve Paulsen attends our ward and talks about
patriarchal blessings. Very timely for
Mr. Matt. I have a sneaking that he was
mostly thinking about Dr. Who at the time.
http://abouthomemovies.org/2011/12/01/swenson-jungle-2/
http://abouthomemovies.org/2011/12/01/swenson-jungle-2/
Friday, May 24: Matt, unbeknownst, or maybe unauthorized, invited ten of his buddies over for a bonfire and a movie. I’d like this kind of thing better if I had a bone of it in my body. Even so, I can see the point. And I can overlook the impulsive, not-quite organized nature. They’re learning how things work. Or not—there’s poor Matt, like Charlie Chaplin in The Gold Rush, waiting by himself as the minutes tick by and nobody keeps not showing up.
Then he had a nice little consolation, or actual post-party party. How did it all begin? Madeline Taylor, tapping on that back window, wondering what was going on? Christopher and Madeline and Sena came over, and they all went out and started that fire up, and then burned all of the year’s school work in it. What the heck?! Spence came out, and Claire, eventually, and Sharon and I too. There was a bright, distant full moon. There was an undercurrent of pagan ritual, dark and mysterious. There were all of these kids who really have known each other for a really long time, chatting and giggling and just quietly sitting together. How cool!
Saturday,
June 1: Claire and I went over to the Arts Park for that talent show. Fun!
Young people mostly, ardent and touchingly unguarded, mostly. You could criticize, or critique,
rather. You could get a lot out of,
teach a lot as a result of that approach.
Or, as tonight, you could just clap for the various people that,
presentable or not, put themselves on the line.
Joely came over to sit with us. Claire liked that. They exchanged facial expressions, looked
around, whispered a bit, behaved very well.
Mum and Spence came later. We
found them, sitting over there by the Maughans.
The Omega bunch was helping out with stage crew stuff. Toward the end they introduced them all. Thirty people over there gave a big cheer
when they announced Matt’s name.
Gratifying! A vague, niggling
concern for parents!
When it was almost over the demo team came on to perform. This is what they’ve been practicing for. It’s a certain kind of theatre, isn’t it? Matt had a chain solo. Started well. Missed a step there. He’ll be learning to mask that kind of thing a little better. The climactic moment was that Matt held a board way up high, and that kid leapt and kicked and smashed it. Except that that kid missed. There was a beat, and then with a really nice combination of self-deprecation and confidence, Matt smashed it himself, held it up, and smiled, shruggingly. Roar! Lovely.
Here's that:
When it was almost over the demo team came on to perform. This is what they’ve been practicing for. It’s a certain kind of theatre, isn’t it? Matt had a chain solo. Started well. Missed a step there. He’ll be learning to mask that kind of thing a little better. The climactic moment was that Matt held a board way up high, and that kid leapt and kicked and smashed it. Except that that kid missed. There was a beat, and then with a really nice combination of self-deprecation and confidence, Matt smashed it himself, held it up, and smiled, shruggingly. Roar! Lovely.
Here's that:
