River Boat vs Kayak

My husband loves river boats, and I love to kayak. This summer, the river boats have won by a landslide.

My soon to retire in-laws recently bought a chunk of land only accessible by boat. In effect, they bought a new boat and gave this 35 year old one to us. It is a used and an abused gas-guzzler, an airboat converted to an inboard, the boat my husband grew up riding in.

It is nice that we have had a motorized boat all summer in addition to our tandem kayak; we do live on a river after all and it only makes sense to keep a boat parked out front. Potentially, our whole family could ride in it. And for as little as anyone that I know uses their boats, it is most definitely smart to have one that is free or almost free, reliable or not.

Still, I'm not always thrilled about this boat or any other boat. It's a time and a money sink from which I reap few benefits. Between this boat and 2 others, my husband has been on 3 long Tanana River Trips, bear-baiting, 2 Salcha River trips, and almost 10 Chena River trips. He's also been fishing in Chitna. I have been on 0 motorized boat trips. I did make it on the river 4 hours this summer in Alaska, 2 with friends on a raft and 2 on our kayak on a date with my husband. My parents spent 2 hours in our kayak when they came up to visit also. And when I visited my parents in Minnesota, I took a kayak trip with my mom down a river that was quite beautiful but we were challenged by 3 log jams along the way.

I'd really, really like to spend a half day or a day on the upper Chena River, the North Fork specifically, in our kayak, but my husband tells me it's not going to happen because no one will want to watch the kids. Today would have been a perfect morning to do it, but he is on the boat now, taking a short trip up to the landing to take it out of the water for the year. I asked him to keep the kayak out . . . just in case. The snow isn't here yet! And the river is calling my name.

There to me is not anything better than listening to the water trickle, the leaves rustle, and the paddles hit the water as the sun shines on my face.

"Pee Floor"

Every parent has a story about something their toddler did that was absolutely embarrassing. My kid peed on the floor of a store.

It's fun to watch these kids grow up. I swear, my kid is an absolute genius and a moron. He amazes me by the things he knows and he annoys me by the things with which he struggles or pretends to be ignorant about. You never can predict their accomplishments and their downfalls. And they, all toddlers, are different.

My son has friends that are very close in age. To generalize a few of these children, one kid is kind of a bully. He'll stand on furniture and hold up toys another kid wants like he is going to hit them with the toy. He'll hide toys that other kids want under pillows or just plain steal them away. But, this kid is also an amazing athlete. He could jump off of the couch at the age of 1 and at 2 I saw him jump off a ladder that was taller than I am. He is also very smart. I can see that he notices details in his environment that many children are not yet able to absorb. Another friend of my son's is a cry baby. He can't share and when he has to or when his toy is stolen, he bursts into tears. He didn't walk until he was almost 18 months old. But, this kid has a great aptitude for language, can speak in complete sentences at the age of 2, is very kind, and also incredibly patient.

My kid is the one who pees and poops--anywhere. Since pretty much the age of 2 he's been potty trained. These days he is nearly two and a half and we give him a lot of leeway. He poops when he wants and sometimes has to be reminded to go pee, but usually he is in control of this too. He can even hold it through naps and through the night now. The problem is that we have been possibly a little too flamboyant about his peeing habits.

His 5 grandparents cheer when he "pees rocks," "pees grass," "pees trees." The babysitter was thrilled when I said it is okay that he pees outside on these things because I guess most parents do not allow their children to do this. "They must use a toilet," they say. Our child gets fun stickers for peeing outside at the babysitters house. He is rewarded with a cookie every time he poops in his potty; he hasn't had an accident for months. My cousin who is a daycare provider warned me that he may try to pee in strange places, like house plants and drains, if we allow him to pee anywhere but the toilet. Yet, daddy taught him to spell his name, to pee on car tires. We and the grandparents have videos and photos of him peeing off of the front steps, of pinching his nose closed and grunting as he poops. Honestly, it is adorable and humorous to us. But, we have confused him somewhere.

Before we walked into the store, I asked my son, "Do you have to go potty?" "No, no, no potty," he replied several times. Once we were in the used toy/clothing store, he found what (I think) was a giant plastic twin bed. It looked like a playground. It had a door that opened and closed, was taller than he is, and there were two chairs inside. I'm not sure if he thought he was in a plastic portable potty or if he thought he was at the playground or if he just thought it was okay to pee on the carpet. But, I turned away for about 20 seconds and he had peed on the floor inside of this thing and was pulling his pants back up.

As we drove home, I told him that he was a very bad boy for peeing in the store on the carpet. He knew this and made the cutest thoughtful face all of the way home in the quiet car. Anyway, I just thought I would tell this story because typically he only amazes me by what he knows and by what he can do. He is growing up in leaps and bounds. And he is the sweetest and most beautiful little boy and big brother for which we could ask.