Brag on my kid
Last night Brett installed a chin-up bar across one of the doorways so that when Noah shimmies up the frame, he has something to stop and hang on to. He’s swinging around behind me as I type.
Noah is fairly stolid individual to those outside the family. Here at home, he’s exuberant and loving but not many people get the treat of knowing that side of him. Even the grandparents — who know him best after us — don’t get the copious hugs and kisses he bestows on Brett and me. They have to chase him down and smack a kiss onto the back of his neck.
He is lovely with other children. I remember when he was about 4 and in preschool. Another little boy wanted to play with the toy that Noah had and kept coming over to try and take it. Noah would say, gently, “No, J., I’m playing with this right now but there’s one over there for you.” J. would come back and lean into Noah’s play again and Noah would say patiently, “I’m playing alone right now but I’ll show you some other things for you.” He has always been like this. He has never snatched another toy from a child, never pushed or shoved or hit. (Ok, he’s smacked Brett and me from time to time, but never anyone else.)
I used to worry about his (lack of) assertiveness. When other kids would push past him in line, he would step back and let them go ahead. I talked to him about this one and he said, “I don’t care if they’re first.” And I could see he really doesn’t. He’s very laid back about that stuff and he figures if someone else wants it more than he does, well, why get into a fuss about it?
He doesn’t seem to need approval from his peers. He’s happy to go their way when it suits him, happy to go his own when it doesn’t. He likes to be alone and if we’ve been social all day, he’ll need some privacy to recharge. (This is one of the biggest reasons that I think that on an individual level, homeschooling is extremely important for him — being in a crowd all day would be his idea of fresh hell.)
He has incredible focus. I was telling a friend yesterday about his early walking and saying that I always thought he would be climbing bookshelves and things because he was so physical so young. The doorway climb notwithstanding, he’s not an excessively physical child. He can sit still and has always had a tremendous attention span. He’s very patient and has great powers of concentration; he’s able to see a project through to completion even when he’s frustrated as long as he doesn’t have an audience. (He’s got his pride, kinda like a cat.)
I have a lot of respect for him and I like him. Even if he wasn’t my kid, I would really like him. As it is, I adore him and am awfully grateful that I get to be his mom.
