About a Boy

Last week we celebrated this kid.

He turned 11 and I truly can’t believe that 11 years have gone by since he made his way into this world. He’s gone from a tiny baby with chubby little legs to a pre-teen, who’s growing taller by the minute. His shoulders are getting broader, his face more mature & each day he amazes me with the knowledge he holds. He has a response for everything which is mostly good, but sometimes not. He thinks logically & you can no longer bs him with your answers. “Because I said so” & “That’s just the way it is” are no longer sufficient responses to his questions. 

His tastes have evolved from Backyardigans & Hot Wheels to finding “eggs” in Disney movies (YouTube it), anything on the History Channel and 1000+ piece Lego sets. 

He devours books like a kid would KD. It was to the point where I bought him the Bruno & Boots series by Gordon Korman (aka McDonald Hall Series) and as soon as he said he was done, I quizzed him on each and every one. He knew the plots, he knew the twists, he would quote the funny parts & prove that he in fact, completed the 7 book series in a 10 day span. 

He’s a die hard Habs (Montreal Canadians) fan and this season has been especially exhilarating for him; HEL-LOOOOOOO play-offs!  Although Shea Weber’s performance has taken away some of the sting, I think he died a little inside when P.K. Subban was traded. You would’ve thought he lost his bff.

He’s a total jokester and insists on making goofy faces every time the camera comes out. He tells the lamest jokes and even though he can’t remember to do his chores on the daily, he can quote SNL skits & various movies like it’s nobody’s business. You want to have a movie quote-off? This is your kid to do it with.

Music is his language and there isn’t a time when he’s not humming along to something or cranking some tune from his iTunes playlist. Which might I add, is the most diverse playlist you’ll ever see. No road trip is safe when he’s in the passenger seat. It’s a constant battle of how loud the music should be and which station gets the most play time. 

As with movies, he remembers song names and artists like nobody’s business. 9.5 times out of 10 he can name that tune. The .5 is due to not having the correct song name, but the right artist.

When he can’t sleep he draws comic strips with a full array of characters. Talking monster taco’s grace the page along with police dogs and airplane flying felines. Robot cops hunt evil hot dogs & somehow it all makes sense. His imagination is really quite something. 

The 10 year old he left behind wasn’t always easy to deal with. There were battles and his (my/our) stubbornness grew. Heads butted & tears were shed. I was told that I “just don’t understand, only dad would get it”. That hurt a teeny tiny bit, but I get it. A boy needs his dad, because sometimes dad does get it more than mom. But what is life without the uphill climb, right? 

Some days I feel like I’m epically failing at this thing called parenting. But then he’ll come to me and start talking in earnest about the things that bother him or else his hopes and his dreams. That’s when I know that I’m doing good. 

I love you kid. 

Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be. – Shel Silverstein