Seven
I've had a hard time finishing this post because it feels like such a big milestone. Seven! The SevenUp series we watched years ago started each episode with the idea, "Give me the child until he is seven, and I will show you the man." This is both terrifying and reassuring -- what habits or values do we need to instill before it's too late? but if we don't, it's okay, because Henry is a wonderful person.
Henry's interests burn very bright but fairly brief. This year, he has been passionately interested in Pokemon, Nerf guns, fidget spinners, Beyblades, and hockey. He spends hours reading about them and researching on Amazon and watching YouTube videos of other people doing these things (I now hate YouTube). He's so into hockey right now, I'll be curious to see whether the interest sticks long enough for it to become a childhood-long hobby, as it does with many Minnesotans. He was so devoted to Parkour for two years when we lived in D.C., but it hasn't revived since we moved. And no real "academic" interests yet. I'm seriously ready for some dinosaurs and outer space manias.
For the most part, Henry is capable and responsible and easy to have around. He doesn't like doing routine chores like setting the table or cleaning up, but he's awesome at helping with projects or watching the little kids. Karl and I went on a garage-cleaning streak last month, and Henry provided meaningful help with Karl's shelving project. And when the bike rack arrived, he opened the package, took the parts outside, got the right tools, and assembled the thing with absolutely zero adult intervention (and then left the trash in the yard).
Henry is basically a rule-follower and likes to meet expectations. I've made it clear that I do not care about homework in first grade as long as he's reading and otherwise using his free time well (i.e. not YouTube). But he absolutely insists that we complete his math homework and that I sign his reading calendar every day because he doesn't want to show up with incomplete work. He delights in the occasional, reasonable rule-breaking but isn't sneaky about it. We agree some of the books he brings home from school are dumb, so he's cool with me signing the reading calendar if he read a good home book instead. When he wants to play hooky, he openly asks to skip school instead of feigning illness, wants to hang out and talk about how we're playing hooky, and tells me to inform his teacher that he is simply skipping school.
He occasionally flips out about absolutely nothing and without warning. Last Sunday we were having a perfectly delightful weekend, full of all his favorite activities and looking forward to an afternoon out with just the big kids, until we told him he could not wear a sweatshirt and ratty track pants to the Guthrie and the child went into complete meltdown mode and didn't recover until Cousin Jesse offered him a drum set. Luckily, these freakouts are infrequent and he is contrite and extra-helpful afterward.
The little kids really lucked out with this one as a big brother. I really cannot convey how attentive he is to Fritz. He's also patient with Heidi, and we can sometimes share "parenting" moments with him like a third grownup. Heidi will be flipping out about getting dressed for school, and Henry and I can exchange a look over her head, because we've talked about how insane he was when he was three. He's mature enough to understand his own evolution and be patient with Heidi. He'll be a super awesome dad someday.
School is going very well. His reading and spelling have improved enormously, and though I think he would have made significantly more math progress in Montessori, he enjoys it. The gaggle of boys he runs with are sweet kids. I don't know them as well as I knew his D.C. friends, but we enjoy having them over. The current crew includes Miles, Santi, Griffin, Judson, and Soren from his class, plus Augie, who was in his class last year, and Jackson, Alex, and Colin from the neighborhood.
He's reading real books now! Sometime this fall, he crossed the magical threshold where reading goes from an arduous task to something fun. Bring on the chapter books! He has read a couple of the Magic Treehouse books, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and a Pokemon book. I love seeing him lounging around the house with his big-kid books. He likes to join grown-up conversations about the books we are reading.
We also let him stay up late and join the grownups occasionally. He doesn't need as much sleep as he used to and Ingrid falls asleep too fast to entertain him at night. I'm a firm believer in bedtime, so we usually put him to bed with Ingrid and tell him to read if he isn't sleepy, but once a week or so we let him come downstairs and hang out with us. As much as I love no-child time, these evenings with Henry are lovely. He's mellow, and we cuddle up under the blankets and watch a Hercule Poirot or Father Brown mystery, or make him do puzzles quietly with us while we talk about work or whatever. If he wants to stay up with us, he has to do whatever we're doing and observe the manners of adult conversation, which I think is really good for him. Right now he is helping Karl with a woodworking project while we admire David Suchet's moustache. He wants to feel like a big person and rises to the occasion. This is when we see him at his most thoughtful and sweet and inquisitive -- when there are no other kids around to showboat for.
Henry requested a Nerf party for his birthday. My initial reaction was WTF? until Pinterest and Etsy revealed this is an extremely common theme in the 6-8 age bracket. And it was super fun! I decorated with orange and blue everything, we gave each kid a pack of bullets and color-coordinated safety goggles (#lawyermom) as a party favor, and invited twelve boys and their weaponry. Grandpa Dave set up some targets and obstacles in the backyard to get everyone started, then they moved into war games with extensively negotiated rules, and obliterated one another for two hours. It was a blast. It has been a delightful surprise for me how much I love boys this age. They have so much energy and are so comically serious about things. They're rowdy and messy but sweet and considerate.
He loved doing the birthday interview this year and requested that I add more questions.
What is your favorite color?
What is your favorite food?
What is your favorite dinner that we cook at home?
What is your favorite treat?
What is your favorite subject in school?
What is your favorite thing to do on weekends?
What is your favorite movie?
What is your favorite tv show?
What is your favorite book?
What is your favorite song?
What is your favorite restaurant?
What is your favorite vegetable?
What is your favorite fruit?
What is your favorite place to visit?
Where do you WANT to visit some day?
Who is your best friend?
What’s your favorite thing to do with Ingrid?
What’s your favorite thing to do with Heidi?
What's your favorite thing to do with Fritz?
What’s your favorite thing to do with Dad?
What’s your favorite thing to do with Mom?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
What is one thing you want to learn how to do?
What are you really good at?
What is something that you wish for?
What is something you wonder about?
Who is someone that you miss?
What makes you sad?
What makes you happy?
What would your perfect day be like?
What was your favorite moment as a six year old?
What was your favorite thing we did as a family this year?
What age do you look forward to – and why?
Good luck with that last one, kid. Your mom loves you too much.
Henry's interests burn very bright but fairly brief. This year, he has been passionately interested in Pokemon, Nerf guns, fidget spinners, Beyblades, and hockey. He spends hours reading about them and researching on Amazon and watching YouTube videos of other people doing these things (I now hate YouTube). He's so into hockey right now, I'll be curious to see whether the interest sticks long enough for it to become a childhood-long hobby, as it does with many Minnesotans. He was so devoted to Parkour for two years when we lived in D.C., but it hasn't revived since we moved. And no real "academic" interests yet. I'm seriously ready for some dinosaurs and outer space manias.
For the most part, Henry is capable and responsible and easy to have around. He doesn't like doing routine chores like setting the table or cleaning up, but he's awesome at helping with projects or watching the little kids. Karl and I went on a garage-cleaning streak last month, and Henry provided meaningful help with Karl's shelving project. And when the bike rack arrived, he opened the package, took the parts outside, got the right tools, and assembled the thing with absolutely zero adult intervention (and then left the trash in the yard).
Henry is basically a rule-follower and likes to meet expectations. I've made it clear that I do not care about homework in first grade as long as he's reading and otherwise using his free time well (i.e. not YouTube). But he absolutely insists that we complete his math homework and that I sign his reading calendar every day because he doesn't want to show up with incomplete work. He delights in the occasional, reasonable rule-breaking but isn't sneaky about it. We agree some of the books he brings home from school are dumb, so he's cool with me signing the reading calendar if he read a good home book instead. When he wants to play hooky, he openly asks to skip school instead of feigning illness, wants to hang out and talk about how we're playing hooky, and tells me to inform his teacher that he is simply skipping school.
He occasionally flips out about absolutely nothing and without warning. Last Sunday we were having a perfectly delightful weekend, full of all his favorite activities and looking forward to an afternoon out with just the big kids, until we told him he could not wear a sweatshirt and ratty track pants to the Guthrie and the child went into complete meltdown mode and didn't recover until Cousin Jesse offered him a drum set. Luckily, these freakouts are infrequent and he is contrite and extra-helpful afterward.
The little kids really lucked out with this one as a big brother. I really cannot convey how attentive he is to Fritz. He's also patient with Heidi, and we can sometimes share "parenting" moments with him like a third grownup. Heidi will be flipping out about getting dressed for school, and Henry and I can exchange a look over her head, because we've talked about how insane he was when he was three. He's mature enough to understand his own evolution and be patient with Heidi. He'll be a super awesome dad someday.
School is going very well. His reading and spelling have improved enormously, and though I think he would have made significantly more math progress in Montessori, he enjoys it. The gaggle of boys he runs with are sweet kids. I don't know them as well as I knew his D.C. friends, but we enjoy having them over. The current crew includes Miles, Santi, Griffin, Judson, and Soren from his class, plus Augie, who was in his class last year, and Jackson, Alex, and Colin from the neighborhood.
He's reading real books now! Sometime this fall, he crossed the magical threshold where reading goes from an arduous task to something fun. Bring on the chapter books! He has read a couple of the Magic Treehouse books, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and a Pokemon book. I love seeing him lounging around the house with his big-kid books. He likes to join grown-up conversations about the books we are reading.
We also let him stay up late and join the grownups occasionally. He doesn't need as much sleep as he used to and Ingrid falls asleep too fast to entertain him at night. I'm a firm believer in bedtime, so we usually put him to bed with Ingrid and tell him to read if he isn't sleepy, but once a week or so we let him come downstairs and hang out with us. As much as I love no-child time, these evenings with Henry are lovely. He's mellow, and we cuddle up under the blankets and watch a Hercule Poirot or Father Brown mystery, or make him do puzzles quietly with us while we talk about work or whatever. If he wants to stay up with us, he has to do whatever we're doing and observe the manners of adult conversation, which I think is really good for him. Right now he is helping Karl with a woodworking project while we admire David Suchet's moustache. He wants to feel like a big person and rises to the occasion. This is when we see him at his most thoughtful and sweet and inquisitive -- when there are no other kids around to showboat for.
Henry requested a Nerf party for his birthday. My initial reaction was WTF? until Pinterest and Etsy revealed this is an extremely common theme in the 6-8 age bracket. And it was super fun! I decorated with orange and blue everything, we gave each kid a pack of bullets and color-coordinated safety goggles (#lawyermom) as a party favor, and invited twelve boys and their weaponry. Grandpa Dave set up some targets and obstacles in the backyard to get everyone started, then they moved into war games with extensively negotiated rules, and obliterated one another for two hours. It was a blast. It has been a delightful surprise for me how much I love boys this age. They have so much energy and are so comically serious about things. They're rowdy and messy but sweet and considerate.
He loved doing the birthday interview this year and requested that I add more questions.
- Blue and orange and Edina green
- Any kind of meat
- Chicken on the bone
- Root beer floats
- Math
- Play Xbox, hockey
- Miracle
- KidFails
- Pokemon: Journey to the Orange Islands
- Livin' on a Prayer
- He's still dreaming of Pho Than in Seattle, but around here, Thai food
- Broccoli
- Bananas
- The hockey rinks
- Canada. They play hockey a lot there.
- Jackson, Santi, Griffin, Miles, Judson, Colin and Soren
- Read with her
- Play crazy like parkour
Be brothers
- Xbox
- I want to try skiing with you
- Hockey player
- Play a new video game
- Nerf guns and Pokemon
- A pet dog (a golden retriever)
- I wonder if they'll be able to make a new wooly mammoth from old DNA
- Ravi
- When my Nerf gun breaks
- Getting a new Pokemon box
- Getting five new Nerf guns and 20 Pokemon boxes. We'd eat meat all day and go sledding all day.
Getting up on water skis.
Going to the cabin.
- Eight, because I'll be older and I can climb on the roof.
Good luck with that last one, kid. Your mom loves you too much.
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