 |
| scout benjamin gerber, age 9 |
i pulled out my favorite book on raising boys a month ago because it had
been almost a year since i had read it, and, with a new teenager and a little kid
who is becoming a big kid, things are changing.
the biggest changes lately aren't with finn, our new teen. the biggest changes are
with scout. he has moved away from the 'lover' stage {ages 5-8} and into the
'individual' stage {ages 9-12}. it's exciting watching him grow and become independent,
but it's also a little bittersweet too. childhood just goes by so darn fast.
a year ago, scout would literally jump into my arms every day when i came home
from work and plant a big kiss on me. these days, he greets me with a quick hug,
asks how my day was, and as soon he hears good, he launches in about his day...
what he's reading, how bayern munich is playing, and then he'll ask is if he can go
play until dark/or dinner {whatever comes first} and he's gone. he's become fiercely
independent and his friends have become increasingly important.
he seems to have one foot in childhood - running around the neighborhood with a pack of
boys having nerf funs wars or playing football, and asking why he can't live with us forever.
other days, it's like he is a teenager. he'll stand in front of the mirror styling his hair and dabbing, or practicing 'celebration dances' for the future goals or touchdowns he hopes to make. last week, i found him hanging from the bunkbed trying to do pull-ups and at least once a week he will lift his shirt to show us his six pack. *sigh*
this is scout at age 9. i catch myself stopping to think, what happened to my baby boy?
he's growing up is what's happening....and so very fast. because i haven't blogged in so long, i want to capture a few highlights from his last few months:
1. scout made the competitive 2006 blast soccer team
this is significant because scout was born in 2007. the team he played with previously were boys born the same
year. at this year's tryouts, the coaches there thought he had enough skill to play up with boys who are a year older than him. it was both exciting and scary for me. i was hesitant about this at first because scout is small...he's actually the smallest boy in his classroom. i didn't say anything about his stature, i simply asked him if he wanted this. he responded, "are you kidding mom. playing with kids who are bigger and more skilled will be more fun AND i'll improve more quickly than playing with boys my age". so that was that, he accepted a position on this new team. his previous coach will be coaching this older team and 2 other players who we be playing 'up' as they call it. i'm still on the fence about this, but coach reminded me that he may be mini, but he's mighty. his practices started last week, and his first tournament will be in late may. soccer season has officially begun and evenings and weekends will be full.
2. scout's a big buddy to a 2nd grader
one of my favorite things about explorer elementary is their 'buddy program'. i'll explain briefly. every child between grades k-2, are 'little buddies' to older S3-5th graders who are called 'big buddies'. these matches last for almost an entire school year, and the pairs get together once a week so big buddies can mentor in a variety of ways: they read together, do math problems, and sometimes they just play games and talk.
because scout is socially mature and does well academically, he typically gets matched with students that 1) need extra support or 2) who excel in class. he prefers the later, but i believe their are benefits to him working with both types of children. last year, he was challenged. his 'little buddy' was a kindergartener named dylan, whom scout referred to him as 'Dylan the Devil'. i gasped when i heard him say this and he quickly said "don't worry mom, i'd never say that in public or around any other child at school. it's just a nickname i made up to explain to you, dad and finn how difficult this kid is. apparently this child used his 'outside voice' all the time, had a 2 minute attention span, and literally would love around the classroom. scout was definitely challenged with this 'little buddy', but again, i think he learned some valuable skills from it. more patience for sure.
this year, he was paired him with audrey, a 2nd grade girl who scout adores. before we began reading one evening last week, scout spent 30 minutes telling me how he and audrey are the "perfect match". he told me she loves to read like he does, and that this 2nd grader was on book 3 in the harry potter series! he went on to tell me he was a bit skeptical she may not be understanding the story, so he quizzed her. he reminded me he was qualified because he's read the series at least 5or 6 times. after asking her questions, he was thrilled to learn she understood everything pretty well. he told me she could read and she had good comprehension too. a match made in heaven? no, just a great pairing by his teacher and the 2nd grade teacher. they told me it was purposeful, and i thanked them both profusely.
3. scout made a new neighborhood friend
three months ago, a family of 4 moved into our neighborhood, just one block away from our home. the couple have two boys, dash {11} and drake {7}. scout and dash became instant buddies. if the boys are home and the sun hasn't gone down, you can find them together. they are either in dash's backyard jumping on his trampoline, playing lacrosse or soccer or roaming the neighborhood. unlike our backyard, this family has grass so it's better for playing sports. when the boys want to play an actual game of some kind, they knock on the front door of another neighborhood family who have 8 children {gasp}! they instantly have a team.
though no one will ever take the place of scout's best buddy spencer, dash is a welcome addition to the neighborhood and to our family. i always hoped the boys would find friends in the neighborhood that kept them outside more than inside and scout has found this with his new friend. {we're still looking for finn}. they literally knock at each other's doors at 9am and play until lunch and are then back at it until it gets dark. oh and c and i really like the parents too! both are professional, but easy going, physically active and they are big UA fans. {the mother played lacrosse for the university of arizona}. i believe she graduated the same year mr. g did. seriously cool!
4. scout will make his first trip to europe next week
tomorrow is the last day of school for the boys and then they will have 2 weeks of spring break.
c and finn will head to mexico for a surf/volunteer vacation, scout and i will be heading to barcelona to visit spencer and his family. we've been looking forward to this trip for months and it's finally here! the boys have been emailing and/or messaging each other almost daily for weeks and they Skype every weekend {a little tricky with the 8 hour time difference, but we make it happen}. i'm looking forward to exploring a new city and eating lots of new foods, and scout is most looking forward to spending time with his very best friend. and i almost forgot, the morton family got tickets for us all to see a professional soccer {futbol} game - barcelona vs sevilla. it should be pretty amazing. this will be a trip of a lifetime. it won't be often that i get to travel abroad with just my youngest.
|
