I probably should have looked for a rainy picture from the archives. But this one made me happy so that’s what I’m using.

We’ve been getting lots of rain lately and it’s such a relief. I don’t know how much it has to rain to fill California reservoirs a respectable amount but I hope we get enough this winter to make a big difference. Max has taken a couple of walks in the rain just for the sake of enjoying it.

4 more days of work and I’m on vacation. I think these are going to be really long days. Unless business mellows out and it turns out to just be a clean-up and catch-up week, that would be fantastic.

When I get home I have to make cookies. The teen has decreed that holiday cookies are necessary to get into the proper holiday mood. They must be decorated and everything. But he’s letting me off the hook a little bit, he just wants green frosting with sprinkles. For years I’ve counted myself lucky that my kid isn’t crazy for Christmas and all the Christmas shit most parents have to participate in. I wonder if Max is going to evolve into a Christmas-y person. I guess as long as he doesn’t join a caroling group I can live with him enjoying some traditional holiday activities and dragging me through them too.

Max bought and sold a couple of things at one of the local pawn shops. I had to go down there to be an adult for the transactions to take place (can’t sell to a pawn shop without a parent or guardian if you’re under the age of 18 I think). It was a strange experience. He really likes the pawn shop. It seems like a fully Williamson thing to feel comfortable with. Pawn shops are depressing to me. What I really enjoyed about the experience is that Max is getting out there and doing things on his own (or trying) and one of things he bought was for his dad. We don’t play that game that kids have to get anyone presents. So he just saw something and thought about his dad and how his dad might like it. He came home and wrapped it right away and it’s the first and only thing under the tree right now. He’s maturing in all the ways I’ve hoped he would mature and he’s doing it at his own pace and in his own way.

I don’t know how other people’s kids work but the one thing I know I’ve always done right with Max is to let him progress at his own pace and in his own way. This is how he works. Give him the information he needs and then step back and wait for him to move forward with it. Don’t pressure him and don’t guilt him. It doesn’t matter what other kids are doing at the same age, Max is not other kids.

I don’t miss anything about parenting younger versions of Max. What’s most satisfying to me as a parent is to be present for all the stages and to see him move on to new stages. Max becomes more fun to hang out with and more interesting to talk to all the time. It’s exciting to see him mature and refine his already strong sense of self every day.

It’s just about time to eat and run off to work.