Jumping Duck

My husband and daughter are at my best friend’s house tonight with their Y Guides tribe.   This is a father/daughter group that starts when your child is six-years-old and goes on for several years.   My husband and daughter joined a tribe run by my best friend’s husband, who with four girls, this is his third iteration with his youngest child, is likely an expert.

They had an initial meeting that involved ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s.  My son and I inadvertently crashed the party, deciding we wanted ice cream after his tumbling class, only to find out the tribe was still there getting to know each other.   We got our ice cream and headed off quickly to Target to get some new shoes for my son.

There was a second meeting but it was brief to pick up their vests—or rather cut pieces of leather, string and a needle, along with some instructions on how the vests should be laced together to make the vests.   My husband worked for a good while last night on creating his and my daughter’s vests with surgical precision.   The final product looked good, I had to admit.

Tonight the tribe is meeting to find out the tribe name, based on most popular vote by either the fathers, the daughters or possibly both (I wasn’t involved).   They will also find out what each member’s tribe name will be.  

My daughter picked out her and her father’s name early on, with her being Jumping Duek and him being Soaring Duck.   Or is that backwards?   I think I have it right.   They have a leather name lanyard that will be decorated tonight with drawings, sequins, brads, jewels and other items.  

My daughter has been excited about Y Guides since she heard she and her father would be a member of Gigi and Matt’s tribe.   There is another name for Y Guides you might be more familiar with: Indian Princesses.   Things became politically incorrect some time back and both the Boy Scouts and Indian Princesses had their names “sanitized”.   But the comradely and fun is still there.

The Big Boy Update:  My son got angry at another neighbor boy today and hit him in the face.   We didn’t see any damage, but it wasn’t okay to do.   My son is rarely violent.   My husband had a talk with him explaining even if someone else was being unjust to another friend, it is not okay to punch them in order to protect that friend.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My husband sent an email to the other fathers in the Y Guides tribe explaining a bit about my daughter.   I didn’t want him to do it at first until he told me what he was going to say.   He told them that if their children wanted to come up to my daughter and talk to her, they could say, “hi, it’s Brynner” so my daughter would know who she was talking to.   I think it’s going to take a bit for her to settle into playing with the other girls.   Children move so fast and my daughter can’t move around safely in an environment she doesn’t know.   But she doesn’t give up easily and likes making new friends.