Surprising Glimpses
Age 7-12 in boys is a wonderful age. They eat life, not worrying about being cool or impressing anyone. Girls still have cooties, parents are fun and they love to be around us, and they are still adventurous and imaginative when they play.
Christopher is hitting the upper end of this age, which means that glimpses of the person he is going to become shine through occasionally. It marks the end of emphasizing the love of doing right and teaching them, and the beginning of the guiding phase of their life. No defining line or age in this, just for now I'm content with switching between teaching and guiding as he switches between child and teen.
So today, I was watching him play on the playground. Their favorite game, benchball, has been banned for an "incident" (NOT involving Christopher), and it was time to make up a new game. Christopher brought a beachball to school, and I watched as the new game unfolded. Suddenly, all of the girls were also on the court wanting to play, and there was a little bit of chaos as to who was to do what in their 15 minutes of recess. This is when Christopher took charge.
"OK, Everyone in one line." he said. "Ones on this side, Twos on that side." Then he started counting off. The line split like a zipper, and the teams were formed. I still had no idea what they were going to play. Turned out to be sort of a beach volleyball type of thing, but with no net. It is the first time the boys and the girls have been involved in a game together. Anyone was welcome, and all had a good time.
I had no idea he had this type of assertiveness in him. It was nice to watch, and it was fun seeing kids taking part in a game that involved more than just a select few. Being able to watch him like that has given me some insight into how to guide him in the coming teen years. I'm looking forward to it.
Christopher is hitting the upper end of this age, which means that glimpses of the person he is going to become shine through occasionally. It marks the end of emphasizing the love of doing right and teaching them, and the beginning of the guiding phase of their life. No defining line or age in this, just for now I'm content with switching between teaching and guiding as he switches between child and teen.
So today, I was watching him play on the playground. Their favorite game, benchball, has been banned for an "incident" (NOT involving Christopher), and it was time to make up a new game. Christopher brought a beachball to school, and I watched as the new game unfolded. Suddenly, all of the girls were also on the court wanting to play, and there was a little bit of chaos as to who was to do what in their 15 minutes of recess. This is when Christopher took charge.
"OK, Everyone in one line." he said. "Ones on this side, Twos on that side." Then he started counting off. The line split like a zipper, and the teams were formed. I still had no idea what they were going to play. Turned out to be sort of a beach volleyball type of thing, but with no net. It is the first time the boys and the girls have been involved in a game together. Anyone was welcome, and all had a good time.
I had no idea he had this type of assertiveness in him. It was nice to watch, and it was fun seeing kids taking part in a game that involved more than just a select few. Being able to watch him like that has given me some insight into how to guide him in the coming teen years. I'm looking forward to it.
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Mama Boo