Today was a GOOD day.
Sunny, happy, productive, just allllll the things I needed but haven’t received in a while.
I feel like it’s become a trend to only have the mental capacity to post when everything else in life doesn’t feel so overwhelming (unless the opposite is true and everything is so overwhelming that a post will help sort and purge the feelings, ha).
Obviously, this results in slightly fewer posts per week on average these days, but, hopefully, they’re decent happenings when I can manage.
So, today, m’peeps, it’s time for another Big Picture Post, but…instead of focusing on a topic, let’s focus on a human.
My son. :)
My energetic, talkative, brilliant, challenging, mischievous, infuriating, and occasionally affectionate boy who is growing up way too fast.
My beloved babies seem to grow and change and adapt in the blink of an eye, so allow me this moment in time to share some of my favorite (and perhaps, most infuriating) things about my son, at 9.5 years old:
1.
I once read that women tend to speak more words, per day, than men. I certainly find this to be true when comparing my husband and myself, but, apparently, gender rules do not entirely apply in the case of my son, who wakes up talking, never stops all the live long day, and only ceases when he’s passed out for the day.
To be clear: this is a trait I absolutely adore about him, because it gives me insight into his day, his brain, his emotions, and just his general stream of consciousness.
It’s fantastic.
And hysterical.
(And, occasionally, overstimulating).
That said…it’s also one of the main causes of tension between Little Man and Chicklet every school day of our lives, because she wants silence in the morning, and he wants to chat-chat-chat.
I severely hope this never changes about my boy.
However…it will alleviate the need for approximately ninety percent of the frustrated sighs and eye rolls in our household when Chicklet heads to middle school next year and she’s no longer getting ready for the day in conjunction with her extremely talkative brother, ha.
2.
He’s loud.
In addition to being very chatty, my son’s default volume is not on the low end of the spectrum, ha.
3.
He resists haircuts at all costs.
We’ve been self-cutting the hair in our household for years now, and haven’t really felt the need to change. But we have to warn Little Man’s for several weeks prior to a planned haircut, just so he can wrap his head around it, ha. He just prefers the front portion of his hair at a very specific length and gets stressed that it might get too short.
(Like father, like son.)
4.
I gave up on forcing him to “fix” his hair about two years ago. I require hair gel on two occasions: our annual family pics and Mother’s Day, ha.
There are a couple other events where I beg and plead with him to let me do something to it and, occasionally, he’ll give in and let me. But usually, it’s a hard no.
5.
His feet are nearly my size. True fact.
6.
He’s highly intelligent. A fact that equally awes and frustrates me (like when he’s too smart for his own good, or when I’m wishing for a bit more humility on his part).
Last week, the 3rd grade did a practice round for the upcoming reading comprehension portion of the state standardized testing (3rd is the first year for kiddos to participate). He scored the highest…in the whole grade. And one of his teachers was unwise enough to share this braggadocios information directly with Little Man. Oye.
Needless to say, I’m ridiculously proud of him but pray daily for the humility that needs to accompany his intellect.
Meanwhile, he’s still placed in a gifted and talented program at school that challenges him with rigorous coursework during one full school day each week. And he’s also been placed in a small enrichment group called HAM (hyper accelerated math), so he’s definitely getting the challenges he needs.
7.
In general, confidence is not his problem. Again, a trait that will likely (annoyingly) serve him well as a MAN (don’t even get me started).
8.
He’s actually quite affectionate and tender with Coda pup and almost exclusively calls her “Fluff” or “Fluff Bucket,” which is a nickname the hubby started, but is almost exclusively Little Man’s thing, now. :)
Don’t get me wrong, Little Man definitely avoids poo/potty/play duty with Coda, but when I force it, he’s in-it-to-win-it and loves up on his little fur sister.
(But he also tends to neck hug her in a way that always makes her growl and complain, ha.)
9.
In clothes these days, he’s equal parts black (hello, tween-in-training) and pops of color. He’s never been afraid of a wild style. But if he has one black hoodie, he has 237 of them.
10.
Pick a sport, any sport, and he’s likely interested. But this year, football has popped, big time.
Given the fact that I’m apathetic about all sports and neither of the girls are in to them (at least, watching them on television), I get great joy out of seeing/hearing Little Man in front of the screen, yelling right along with the hubby.
11.
He’s still a wonderful and interesting artist.
I kind of like to think I had a small hand in this, with the drawing tutorials I forced on all the kiddos for years (and still do, when possible!), but he really loves a good YouTube video that teaches him to draw any given thing, and I love seeing him tucked away, working on something at his little desk in his room.
12.
Of my three kiddos, he’s the only one who’s ever fallen prey to a terrible trait: telling little white lies!
The horrible part is that they’re usually the most inconsequential lies (Did you brush your teeth? Yes. LIE.) But I’ve been working with him, to a great extent, to ensure that he understands his word is his honor and NO lie should ever come out of his mouth.
We’re a work in progress on that front.
13.
He still loves, loves, loves his table tennis lessons, and that’s a sweet little task that the hubby is in charge of escorting Little Man to, each week.
I don’t have a pic (and really should), but each week, Little Man wears a table tennis-specific shirt to this lesson, along with a head sweat band that just slays me.
14.
He’s wrapping up a soccer season that the hubby has been coaching, and Little Man is still a strong and athletic teammate—and is the cutest when he scores and runs around the field like he’s Lionel Messi.
15.
He’s enrolled in an after-school chess program this nine weeks and digging it.
16.
He’s LOVES watching Dude Perfect trick shots or table tennis videos until the rest of us just can’t handle the sound of them, anymore.
17.
I don’t get a ton of unsolicited cuddles these days, but when it’s time for me to put him to bed, he would gladly have me hang with him and snuggle sleep forever and ever—and I’ll take that time, for as long as I can get it!
18.
He’s uses his white board in his room for hysterical purposes and often writes out daily schedules for himself.
Apparently, nine year olds are smarter these days (or, at least, this one), as evidenced by the plans for a workout and the post-it reminder to “practice five minutes of mindfulness.” I DIE.
He also stole my little hand weights and carted them off to his room, and I occasionally catch him doing biceps curls and I can’t even.
19.
I’ve begun to pray for the days when he comes home with math homework…and loathe the days when it’s reading or social studies, as he’ll overthink the answers to within an inch of his life. Math has a specific answer. Essay questions do not, ha.
20.
If the living room chandelier ever falls, it’s Little Man’s fault. He jumps and runs and pounces and crashes HARD up there in the playroom, every day. And I know someday I’ll miss that noise, but, for the love, it’s a wonder the ceiling hasn’t collapsed.
I truly, MADLY love this boy of mine so much, I can’t even stand it.
Once upon a time, he was a Mama’s boy, and though I can’t really claim he still is, it’s an absolute joy to chaperone field trips (and die when he loves up on me, like he did last week during a bonus round of rodeo), plan special mother/son shopping or bookstore outings for special time, or just encourage him to talk-talk-talk, even if it’s at bedtime and I’m so tired I could cry (like last week, when he told me he believed telekinesis was possible and proceeded to talk through scientific evidence that can’t definitively dispute the possibility).
I know he’s going to challenge me like crazy as he grows, but he’s also the most AMAZING kid, and I love him so stinking much!
Okay…more, soon, peeps!
Over and out.
No comments:
Post a Comment