Book Review: Beautiful Boy

As described on the book jacket, Beautiful Boy, by David Sheff is a father's journey through his son's meth addiction. the book was intense. Maybe because I'm a mother now or maybe because drug addiction is so scary or maybe both.

I stayed awake at night thinking about Sheff's son, Nic, who became consumed by drugs as a teenager. By the time he was 21, Nic had been through rehab three times. THREE times! I think about my life at 21, which was just about as far away as a meth addict as someone could be. My worst offense with substance abuse was binge drinking.

Sheff's account of his personal struggle with his son's addiction is heartbreaking. He mostly blames himself. Part of me wanted to blame him too. Part of me wanted to blame friends. Part of me didn't know who to blame.

I work in the mental health field and I found myself struggling with "blame" as I read the book. In the end, it made just a little more compassionate and understanding about addiction in general. It's incredibly complicated and recovery is not as easy as just stopping. Sheff's son wrote a memoir about his own experience. I need to take a break from addiction, but Tweak is definitely on my must-read list.

Oh, and I organized a book club! Our first meeting is in late September, so I hope to be reading regularly again very soon!

Ferris Wheel

When we asked Benny what he wanted for his birthday, he responded that he wanted to ride a Ferris wheel and a hot air balloon. The Ferris wheel we could do on short notice. We are instituting "experience" gifts for our kids since they get plenty of "stuff" from grandparents and friends. This was the perfect first experience gift for Benny. As we crept to the top of the Ferris wheel and headed back toward land, Benny said, "I really love to ride the Ferris wheel." Ah, the perfect birthday present for our amazing little boy.

Bruligan!

Happy Brule Day!

We attended Brule Day this weekend. Brule Day, as you might suspect, is a celebration of Brule. Unfortunately, as Brule shrinks in size, so does Brule Day. However, it's still a nice opportunity to connect with people who I do get to see very often, like old high school friends.

Nate drove my dad's red SSR and Benny got to ride along. He was pretty pumped because 1) he didn't have to sit in his car seat and 2) he got to throw candy! As the sign indicates, Brule celebrated 125 years this Brule Day. Brule is certainly looking its age at this point as more people have moved away than have moved to town.

I have such fond memories of Brule Day, from the parade, to the games in the park, to the coin toss, to the street dance. It was one of the few days I got to spend in town during the summer. We were usually helping out on the farm in one way or another, so to be able to hang out with my friends for an ENTIRE day was a real treat. It also meant that summer was winding down and school would start soon. My hope is that Benny and Lila enjoy it as much as I did. Based on Benny's positive reaction to Brule Day this year, I think we're heading in that direction!

Berrylicious!

Lila is nearly 10 months and one week old! She is now refusing to eat any food that she can't eat herself. She's quite adept at feeding herself as a result. She is also crawling and pulling herself up. She's not too interested in walking with assistance, but she's cruising around the furniture now. She points and claps and laughs. Once in awhile we can get her to give a high five. She looks so big here!

We're getting rid of her jumpers and other baby items. I can't believe how quickly we cycled through those!