I just love my big guy. He definitely is one of the most incredible people I will ever know. He is a natural leader and with the appropriate guidance, the sky is the limit with what he can accomplish.
Independent, headstrong, self-assured, confident. That’s just scratching the surface of ‘A’. The way he processes things is amazing. Even though he is all boy, insights and assumptions are often well thought through and appropriate for the situation. In addition, he must always know what is going on with the adults. Who is calling us on the phone….what conversation we are having…etc.
Here are a few examples that capture a glimpse of this precious person. These all occurred within a 48 hour period.
1) Lately we have had to deal with the boys slacking on their morning chores. They get distracted and play, wrestle, or fight instead of doing the tasks they are supposed to do. I have had to step in and be ‘mean’ mom and stay on them every step of the way. David took on that role yesterday and it was nice for me to have some reinforcement.
Thursday is the favorite day of the boys’ week. We spend all afternoon playing at the park with friends, (around 4-5 hours typically). There are around 10 moms and a bunch of kids.
I decided as a consequence for their attitude toward chores that I would have the kids do their schoolwork at the park during play time. ‘A’ did not say a word, but his eyes welled up with tears and went back to work. I went upstairs to check on them a few minutes later and he had a sign taped to his shirt that said, “Please don’t talk to me. I’m too upset to talk.”
I caved. He looked so dejected. I revised and said that if they buckled down and finished their chores, their Bible lesson, and we did the rest of school after dinner with no complaining, they could just play at the park. Both happily obliged.
A few minutes later, ‘A’ had a different sign on his shirt. It said, “Please don’t talk to me”. With the first sign, I was impressed at his creativity, but with this second sign, I’m feeling like he’s playing a bit of a control game. (Yes, I know, he was playing a control game with the first sign as well….) So, I asked him what was the deal with the second sign. He tried to respond using charades, and I told him he had to use his voice.
He responded that he did not want to talk to anyone because then he would be distracted. He proceeded to tape his own mouth shut to reinforce his commitment to staying on task.
2) While at the park, my friend Leslie said, “I just wanted to share with you what I overheard with your boys.” She said that ‘A’ and ‘R’ had a little boy with them, not a part of our group. The boys went up to two women and asked if they knew the two boys that were on the slide. The ladies said they knew them. ‘A’ told them that they were picking on the little boy. One of the ladies said that one of the boys was his brother. ‘A’ said, “well I just wanted you to know they were picking on him.”
When we were driving home, I told the boys that someone shared with me what they overheard. ‘A’ said, “Oh yes, I told him I’d give him three strikes or I would tell their moms if they did not stop picking on the little boy.”
One of the boys responded, “well, you don’t know who my mom is…”
‘A’ replied, ‘Strike one…”
3) I joined the boys on the slopes and spent the morning skiing with my honey while the boys were in lessons. After lunch, we decided to family ski/board together. David and I took turns with each boy. At first, I thought that we would just do the bunny slope (like Julia’s chair at Snoqualmie), but the boys assured us that they could do a more advanced run. Assuming we’d just slowly meander down the run, I took my spot behind ‘A’. Next thing I know, he is halfway down the hill. I had to go faster that I was comfortable to catch up to him! He was then doing these 360 degree twirls. I was stunned! I had no idea he was already this good! 7 lessons!!
I overheard a snowboarder say to his friend, “check out that kid; he’s an awesome little boarder.”. I stopped and said to him, “I can’t believe it. I had no idea! He’s only had 7 lessons!” The guy said, ” well, he’s a natural. Keep encouraging him.”
‘A’ definitely had his share of spills. After catching up to him at the bottom of the run, he told me, “Mom, I made some pro-wipeouts on some pro-moves!”
After a few more runs with him, I was physically spent. I told him I was done, and he said, “OK, mom, I will just do the runs by myself.”
Um….no….you are going to wait for Dad.
High confidence is great, but he still needs work on discretion. On one run, we all decided to try a different chair. The run was another blue run like the one we had been on all day. We made a plan and started down. At a fork, where we all should have stopped, ‘A’ kept going onto an ungroomed run and ‘R’ followed along. They were too far for us to get onto the groomed run, so David and I had to commit to the ungroomed run.
The boys did fine, but David and I endured many falls and slowly side-stepped down the hill. ‘A’ got a stern talking to for not using good judgment. A lesson was learned by all.
I treasure this kid and look forward to how God shapes him and his purpose here on earth.