7.5
Seven feels like a big transition year -- and we're literally right in the middle of it. I can tell because Henry is alternately the kindest, most helpful, most mature, most conscientious third adult in the family; or a melodramatic, over-sensitive pain in the you-know-what. "Threenager" had a nice ring to it. What do you call one that's seven?
Luckily, the swings are less intense than when he was three. And kid drama has way less effect on me now. Plus, the upsides are even better. He's a big kid! One who can knows things and has meaningful hobbies! And can connect varied points of information across circumstances! So we can do fun things like share interests and talk about stuff. I'm working on the details of our summer road trip and he's interested in the various options, which ones can be combined on various days, perusing the kid atlas, and making notes from our local test hikes to improve the experience this July. I tell him about the new camera lenses I'm shopping for this road trip and he has meaningful questions about how the various options and how zoom lenses work.
He can be helpful at near-adult levels. Some days he wakes up in a mood to be awesome and helps with whatever Karl and I are doing all day long. This morning, he got Fritz out of bed and brought him downstairs. I was very confused to see Fritz waddle into the kitchen in his sleep sack until Henry followed him with bleary eyes and bed-head.
The child is also so funny and thoughtful. I've documented his devotion to Fritz, which remains extraordinary. He and Ingrid annoy each other but he still steps up when he can support her. She had ballet recital and her first soccer game last weekend. Henry was the one who insisted on bringing her flowers to recital, and when she came home from soccer, very attentively gave her big hugs for playing in the rain and asked her sincere questions about game play.
Unluckily, when he is flipping out about nothing, or not being clever, funny, and helpful, he is now too big for physical manucaption to be a disciplinary tool. We have to leave on time for event X with multiple children. Henry does not want to do X and is losing his mind. He does not give a fig about the natural or logical consequences I lay out for him. He is too big for me to carry. This is where Montessori, positive discipline, etc. give me no answers. I disapprove of beating children but question my commitment to that principle at such times.
Our major challenges are his screen addiction and constant back-talk. Henry is the only kid to be hooked on screens of all kinds and I worry he is losing the ability to entertain himself in any other way. We only have one TV and it's hardly ever on, but there's always a computer or phone or iPad lying around and it's the first thing he seeks out when he has two seconds of down time. When we cut him off, we're the meanest people ever. This is when he gets particularly contrary and disrespectful and cannot remember to just shut his mouth before he digs himself a deeper hole.
The upside of being argumentative: his language skills skyrocketed this year. He makes legit word jokes that Grandpa Alan could be proud of. He recently described something as "unprecise." I told him the word is "imprecise." To which he responded, "Yup, I'm UNprecise," with a giant smile on his face. Warms my dorky heart. As of his January school conference, he was reading at the level of a child nearing the end of second grade (he's in first grade). He's really into the half-graphic novel books has cranked through all of the Captain Underpants, Wimpy Kid, and Humphrey books. I bought him all of the Magic Treehouse set, which he loved until he got to one that scared him and then refused to read any of them ever again. He does sometimes get majorly hung up on minor things.
He loves the planning/researching/buying aspect of activities. Especially the buying. Not always as great on the boring maintenance part of the activity. I have no idea where he got this trait. Probably his dad. Pay no attention to the mom behind the curtain.
He loves watching sports, but hockey remains his first love. When I kick him off the computer, the first thing he does is head outside to practice shooting on the driveway. We invested in good Rollerblades and now he skates back and forth to Alden's house. He played on the beginner team with mostly kindergarteners this season because he didn't play in kindergarten. He's really hoping to move up with the second graders this fall, so we signed him up for some skills camps this summer. Fritz approves of all this practice.
Henry hasn't been to parkour often since we moved here. But he continues to approach the world as though every surface presented an opportunity for doing something crazy. This includes my furniture, walls, railings, etc. I only halfheartedly discourage this abuse of my furniture. When I'm on my parenting A-game I take him interesting places with new things to tackle. Climbers gotta climb.
When he doesn't know what to say -- and heaven forfend we ever just BE QUIET FOR TWO MINUTES -- he repeats the same question over and over again. It's like a verbal tic. How old are you? What are we doing tomorrow? Are you a chicken? He also has a thing with chickens. And dabbing.
His core friend crew includes Jackson, Santi, Judson, Miles, and Griffin. He seeks out Eric and Alden a lot. Every time we see the boys strolling up the block together, I think that alone justifies having moved here.
He eats so much. As much as I do. Sometimes he eats dinner and then inhales half a pound of lunch meat as a bedtime snack.
He comes up to my chin but still likes to cuddle at bedtime. Seven. It's very big/little.
Luckily, the swings are less intense than when he was three. And kid drama has way less effect on me now. Plus, the upsides are even better. He's a big kid! One who can knows things and has meaningful hobbies! And can connect varied points of information across circumstances! So we can do fun things like share interests and talk about stuff. I'm working on the details of our summer road trip and he's interested in the various options, which ones can be combined on various days, perusing the kid atlas, and making notes from our local test hikes to improve the experience this July. I tell him about the new camera lenses I'm shopping for this road trip and he has meaningful questions about how the various options and how zoom lenses work.
He can be helpful at near-adult levels. Some days he wakes up in a mood to be awesome and helps with whatever Karl and I are doing all day long. This morning, he got Fritz out of bed and brought him downstairs. I was very confused to see Fritz waddle into the kitchen in his sleep sack until Henry followed him with bleary eyes and bed-head.
The child is also so funny and thoughtful. I've documented his devotion to Fritz, which remains extraordinary. He and Ingrid annoy each other but he still steps up when he can support her. She had ballet recital and her first soccer game last weekend. Henry was the one who insisted on bringing her flowers to recital, and when she came home from soccer, very attentively gave her big hugs for playing in the rain and asked her sincere questions about game play.
Unluckily, when he is flipping out about nothing, or not being clever, funny, and helpful, he is now too big for physical manucaption to be a disciplinary tool. We have to leave on time for event X with multiple children. Henry does not want to do X and is losing his mind. He does not give a fig about the natural or logical consequences I lay out for him. He is too big for me to carry. This is where Montessori, positive discipline, etc. give me no answers. I disapprove of beating children but question my commitment to that principle at such times.
Our major challenges are his screen addiction and constant back-talk. Henry is the only kid to be hooked on screens of all kinds and I worry he is losing the ability to entertain himself in any other way. We only have one TV and it's hardly ever on, but there's always a computer or phone or iPad lying around and it's the first thing he seeks out when he has two seconds of down time. When we cut him off, we're the meanest people ever. This is when he gets particularly contrary and disrespectful and cannot remember to just shut his mouth before he digs himself a deeper hole.
The upside of being argumentative: his language skills skyrocketed this year. He makes legit word jokes that Grandpa Alan could be proud of. He recently described something as "unprecise." I told him the word is "imprecise." To which he responded, "Yup, I'm UNprecise," with a giant smile on his face. Warms my dorky heart. As of his January school conference, he was reading at the level of a child nearing the end of second grade (he's in first grade). He's really into the half-graphic novel books has cranked through all of the Captain Underpants, Wimpy Kid, and Humphrey books. I bought him all of the Magic Treehouse set, which he loved until he got to one that scared him and then refused to read any of them ever again. He does sometimes get majorly hung up on minor things.
He loves the planning/researching/buying aspect of activities. Especially the buying. Not always as great on the boring maintenance part of the activity. I have no idea where he got this trait. Probably his dad. Pay no attention to the mom behind the curtain.
He loves watching sports, but hockey remains his first love. When I kick him off the computer, the first thing he does is head outside to practice shooting on the driveway. We invested in good Rollerblades and now he skates back and forth to Alden's house. He played on the beginner team with mostly kindergarteners this season because he didn't play in kindergarten. He's really hoping to move up with the second graders this fall, so we signed him up for some skills camps this summer. Fritz approves of all this practice.
Henry hasn't been to parkour often since we moved here. But he continues to approach the world as though every surface presented an opportunity for doing something crazy. This includes my furniture, walls, railings, etc. I only halfheartedly discourage this abuse of my furniture. When I'm on my parenting A-game I take him interesting places with new things to tackle. Climbers gotta climb.
When he doesn't know what to say -- and heaven forfend we ever just BE QUIET FOR TWO MINUTES -- he repeats the same question over and over again. It's like a verbal tic. How old are you? What are we doing tomorrow? Are you a chicken? He also has a thing with chickens. And dabbing.
His core friend crew includes Jackson, Santi, Judson, Miles, and Griffin. He seeks out Eric and Alden a lot. Every time we see the boys strolling up the block together, I think that alone justifies having moved here.
He eats so much. As much as I do. Sometimes he eats dinner and then inhales half a pound of lunch meat as a bedtime snack.
 |
| Ate his two tacos and stole two of mine (I kept the Modelo). |
He comes up to my chin but still likes to cuddle at bedtime. Seven. It's very big/little.
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