On Monday, Aug 17 we went to Island Beach State Park. The weather was perfect - hot and steamy. The ocean was cool and the breeze coming off the ocean was refreshing. We arrived at 10:00 and stayed til 5:00.
Ben was a fish, of course. He has taken up body surfing and loves it. Gabe spent the first several hours running away from the waves. Eventually he warmed up to letting me or Mike hold him while he kicked at the waves. The waves were pretty exciting too - not 5 foot waves like this weekend, but still some good body surfing waves crashing on the shore.
Before we left we headed to the showers to wash off the sand and change our clothes. I stood outside the men's bathroom waiting for Mike to finish up with the boys. There was screaming, loud screaming and I knew there was trouble that starts with a capital B. Ben came out (fully dressed thank heavens) and announced loudly that he hurt his penis for the fourth time. Apparently he had a bad case of shore rash on his nether regions. Also, according to Ben, Mike had been a little rough with the zipper (we had forgotten underpants) and nipped the little bugger where it hurts most. Hence the screaming.
Not only did I hear the sordid tale, but so did everyone around me - about 15 people or so. I love Ben's complete lack of self-conscience. Whatever is happening at that moment is his experience and it doesn't matter if the President of America is standing right there - if he needs to let it all out, he will.
Which also brings me to the next experience. Today Ben had the privilege of giving a quick talk in Primary. I was there to help him and prompt him - well how it ended up working is I told him what to say. Ben was acting very strangely during the talk - he was shaking acting kind of nervous. Also, he was grabbing himself - again in the nether regions. By the end of the talk he was shaking and I thought he was just really nervous. After the talk was over (about 1 minute long) he looked down at his pants, looked at me and I knew exactly what was going on. He was peeing his pants on the primary podium.
I tried to usher him out as quickly as possible. He turned around - with legs spread, and whispered to me, "I just peed my pants!" My goal was to get him out of there ASAP. The funny thing is, Ben wasn't embarrased at all! He was just telling me what had happened. He had peed his pants and now they were all wet and he wanted to go home and change. That's all. I suffered all the emotional consequences. I felt terrible for Ben and chastised myself for not taking him to the bathroom before primary. But, Ben was already putting it all behind him. I am sure that embarrasment will come in due time, but I wish it wouldn't. I wish I could be more like Ben and simply not care - or even think about being embarrased. Just deal with the situation and move on.
No comments:
Post a Comment