Mommy Bragging

We parents always think our kids are awesome. We love to brag about our kids to anyone who will listen and we soak it in when the other person agrees that yes, they are truly extraordinary. And sometimes we need to focus on those things to keep from going crazy from the other not-awesome things that our kids do as well - they're kids, right?

Anyway, here I go with some super cool stuff that my kids are doing:

- S (27 months) has amazing, truly amazing fine motor skills. It started with clipping his own buckles on his carseat and high chair about a year ago and lacing beads several months ago. That was impressive. He's now graduated to putting on his own mittens with the thumbs in the right spots and everything and he's getting himself dressed. He started with putting on his own pants, then moved to pajamas (the footie kind) and today, he walked into the livingroom completely dressed with pants and a turtleneck that he picked out and put on all by himself. I was impressed to say the least. He also loves to do the alphabet puzzle he got for Christmas and he can do the entire thing all by himself. He looks at the piece, finds its spot, pops it in and then repeats the sound that the letter makes (the puzzle says it). Having never had kids before this who were at all interested in puzzles, this leaves me amazed every time.

C- (27 months) has incredible recall. Yesterday, he had his Circle Time class at our homeschool co-op. That's at 11:00. At 3:30, he came home and announced to Nana that he had fun at Circle Time today and they talked about Dinosaurs. That's one heck of a timeline for recall. He also told daddy about it when he was going to bed last night. Impressive. His reasoning skills are incredible too. For ages, he's understood and voluntarily implemented the idea of taking turns. He often leads "S's turn, my turn" when the twins are playing together. He regularly takes up the cause of taking turns when there is a game going and he's been doing that since before he was 2. You can tell him to do things and he'll actually do them. I can give him something and tell him to go give it to one of his brothers and he'll do it and make sure that they do with it what they're supposed to and then come back and report on it. Handy.

G - (8 1/2 yrs) is as sharp as a whip. He picks up on things so quickly. He can always look at the clock and nearly instantly tell you how much time there is between now and the next event happening in our day. He's one of those people who is naturally good at nearly everything he tries whether it's academic or physical. And he has passion coming out of his ears! Once he decides where he's going to concentrate that passion, watch out world!

M- (10 yrs) has really incredible self-awareness and a heart that is huge. His newest venture, The Banana Club, was born out of getting punched in the nose last week at a park for no reason other than wanting to befriend a kid who wasn't being very nice to him. Instead of getting bitter, he turned it into a game and recruited others to it as well. The game was to find and resolve conflict. In his spirit of wanting to encompass everything and everyone in his visions, he believes that if he can just get the word out to enough people and get enough people on board with his club, that it will ultimately bring about world peace. It's so inspiring to see him dream so big and in a way that is good for all. It will be amazing to see where he goes.

So, there's my mommy brag for today. My children are amazing and that's that.