July Shane Update!

Life has been quieter for Shane since VBS ended. Most mornings, he's been motivated to get his chores out of the way as quickly as possible to earn electronics! It's summer and I like Shane learning to take care of things quickly rather than putting them off, so he's ended up with more electronic time than he would otherwise.

Shane's been playing video games on the computer or the Switch. If we drive somewhere, he may ask to use the "pink phone" to play Pokémon Go. He has access to a tablet and a Super Nintendo, but never uses them. 

Shane's favorite video game is Roblox. He's got access to far superior games, but Roblox is easy and social. We only allow Shane to play Roblox if he plays with someone and super-extrovert Shane really wants to play with someone anyway. His main playmates online are his cousins with Dylan coming in second place.

On the computer, Carrie bought Shane a game called Stray that looks amazing. However, once it stopped being easy Shane stopped playing (He almost stopped after the intro, because he thought the cat getting separated from its friends was too sad!). I'd bet he'd play it again if one of us sat behind him and cheered, but normally his electronic time is our time to do something else (even if they're normally chores or Kila related!). I'll offer to play Deep Rock Galactic with Shane, but he goes through phases of being excited/receptive to it. I let him stay up late one night (~9:40 PM) to finish up a pair of his quest missions with me and Bill. I played Portal 2 co-op with him once at his request, but he hasn't asked again. I showed him Heroes of Might and Magic V (which he called "boring" before it even booted up). 

There are tons of other games on the computer Shane could play. He's dabbled with some and there were a few that caught his eye for several days this summer: Kerbal Space Program, Satisfactory, Terraria, etc.

Shane seems to prefer games that are: 
     A) Social. He knows someone he can play it with or it's popular with people he knows.
     B) Easy. Shane will play Poki games rather than start up bigger games if he can't do Roblox!
          He doesn't like losing.
     C) Building/economic related. He likes to build stuff or earn money over engaging with a plot. 

TV-wise Shane has been watching a lot of cartoons. He seems more comfortable when the characters are animated. If we watch something live action and anyone gets hurt or embarrassed it bothers Shane far more than if it's a cartoon. He gets that from me, but I still want him to watch things with real people every now and then, because I think he needs the practice picking up on subtle social cues (We really should start watching Full House again....though Shane says he only wants to watch it if we all watch it!).

Shane's main shows while home have been things like Captain Underpants, Sgt Frog, Naruto, and Yu Yu Hakusho. I wanted to show him some Dragonball Z since it's so popular and well known world wide (My Colombian iTalki teacher brought it up one day!), but Shane tends to decide whether or not he likes something ahead of time and then stubbornly sticks to his opinion!

Shane does like nature shows, too. If he isn't watching a cartoon, it's normally something scientific dealing with animals (He'd probably watch weather shows, too, if there were more of them!).

Shane has had some practice cooking this summer. I typically tell him Carrie and I "provide one meal a day" and he's got to make his own lunch. He'll do instant ramen, bagel bites, or make a peanut-butter-Nutella sandwich most days. He was worried about putting a pan in the oven one day and mad at me because I wouldn't let him "armor up" and wear hand gloves to put the pan in!

Shane's creative side comes out in different ways. He turned his bed into a tent.

It's stayed for weeks. We don't make him clean his room up anywhere near as much as we should, but that's probably not going to change anytime soon (the main motivator is having visitors over!).

Shane also enjoys doodling comics. He has a fascination with bad words lately, but I'm not going to do much more than raise an eyebrow because I want him to continue drawing!

If anything, it's the most writing practice he'll get this summer!

Sometimes Shane's inspired by something that happens around him and other times he makes up his own stories entirely.

I don't cheer and dance, but, again, I make a point of encouraging Shane to make comics. It's easy to consume, but I think it's healthier to create!

There were a couple of nights I helped Shane study for his meetings with Sunny by creating flashcards, etc.

In a perfect world, I'd probably do that every time and study Japanese with him daily (I might even learn it then!). In reality, Shane's studying is chance for him to practice being independent and us to get a break from child care!

Shane has been very helpful to have around. We have him take the dogs out in addition to his normal chores. He was the first to bring out the frisbees I'd bought nearly a month ago!

Sadly, we haven't gone to the pool nearly as much this summer. Some of it has been weather. One time we went and had to leave soon thereafter due to thunder.  Some of it has been we keep managing to miss seeing the same kids consistently when we do go. I don't feel like we're as connected to it as we were last summer.

It's good exercise. Maybe I should force Shane to go more, but I've been letting him make the choice more lately and he's been opting not to go. 

Socially, move up Sunday is coming soon (August!). I'm looking forward to Shane attending youth group at our church. I'm praying he finds a community of friends to connect with there! I'm planning on taking him to the Wednesday night activities, too.

There's still time to learn a few new things amongst everything else this summer. Shane and I dropped by O'Reilly's Auto Parts after church one Sunday ("Oh, Oh, O'Reilly's!" Shane sang the ditty). I think taking Shane places like that is important to prepare him for adulthood and independence.

Both brake lights on the Subby needed bulbs replaced. I did one to make sure I knew what I was doing before calling Shane out to help. 

It was a quick task, but I told Shane he'd helped me save at least $20 on labor!

The ratchet seemed new to him. I would've thought I'd shown him how to use sockets and a ratchet before, but maybe it's been a while.

And that's most of the Shane updates! There's more I could write, but it's late! Kila needs to pee and I need to go to sleep. Night!