The first sign to me that my little boy is growing up was that he choose "Rib City" for his birthday dinner, rather than McDoanlds. He ordered a full rack, finished them off and still ate the rest of Elijah's unfinished entre.
We had a simple, football themed party. I love how easy the parties get as the kids get older. The boys just ran around, ate and caused only a mild ruckus in the neighborhood.
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Getting sappy:
To be honest, these events have made me a little sad. It's hard to believe how fast he has grown up. The hardest part for me, is the fact that over the past few years, I feel like he sees me as the crazy task master. Jaxen is one to push the limits, test the boundaries and can bring out parts of my personality that I am not proud of. Having little Autumn has reminded me of how I felt about him when he was a baby and has made me determined to get our relationship back to where it was. I love Jaxen so much. He has an incredibly tender heart and has strong emotions. I think this is why he can push my buttons so easily. My desire for him to succeed can overtake the tender feelings and at times put us into a battle of wills. I have one more year until the double digits, he is half way to 18. If we are going to make it through the teens, I need to get some new habits. I'm not even sure what the steps are, but I'm starting with a public declaration of my plans. Any ideas or suggestions of resources would be much appreciated.
3 comments:
Happy Birthday Jaxen, from your cousins in Washington!
I know exactly what you mean about battle of wills. Levi is so much the same. he can be so passionate, but not about the things I think he should be passionate about! We have power struggles almost every day. But then he'll do something so sweet like clean my bathroom just to surprise me. I think it is just the challenge when raising your first born, you want them to be the biggest and best. I am so much more chill with the other kids...anyway, great post and I love the pictures, as usual!!
Raising an emotionally intelligent child by John Gottman is a great read. It helps us realize that the first step in the battle is at least acknowledging what is going on for them, but more importantly, what is going on for us.
Andy
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