Bringing Up Baby

Life is getting very interesting with my son in Kindergarten. His mind is working in ways it hasn’t before and he's growing up at a speed I haven't prepared myself for.

Several times in the last few weeks, he’s told us about a little boy named Christian who likes to pick on him and other in his class. This little boy constantly takes others’ carpet squares at story time, harasses our son for not being a good football player, and cuts in line repeatedly. The school has a no-bully policy, so I told my son he should calmly tell his teacher one day when he arrives at school instead of waiting for an incident. So far, he hasn’t said anything to anyone other than us. But you can tell its eating at him. The other night at dinner, he said “I’ve decided to tell my teacher about Christian” when we hadn’t even been discussing it. This side of him is quite new. He’s always cared about people and is upset when they are treated unfairly, but the careful thinking behind his actions is a signal that he’s maturing and putting others first.

This morning as he was getting ready for school, he was going potty and saw a towel behind him on the rack with the letters “USA.” He turned around excited saying “I know those letters – it’s a U, an S and an A!” all the while his potty stream spewing all over the bathroom. He was so excited about those letters that he totally forgot why he was standing there! I didn’t care too much - who could blame him for being excited about learning?

He gets this one he gets from his Papa moreso than school, but everything he says or thinks now becomes a song and has rhymes. It’s like living inside a Broadway musical. Sometimes I’d like subtitles, but it’s pretty cute. His sister thinks so too – except when she puts her hand to her ears and says “He’s singing again!”

On the way to school today, he counted to 100 - I counted 4 errors. What amazed me is when he then started counting backwards. I'm not ready for how quickly this little person is developing. Last night he had homework - real homework that took time to finish. It was one of my proudest moments to help him.

And lastly (for now), earlier this week when I was sick and needing rest, I laid down on the couch and put in a movie for them until daddy came home. Every so often, he’d come over and lay his hand on my head. “Do you need anything?” he’d ask. I said, “I’m ok, buddy.” To which he said “Remember, I’m a big boy now. I can do ANYTHING, you know.”

I'm not sure about "anything," but he’s pretty amazing, there’s no denying that.