Marvelous Mr. Man

Mr. Man.  What can I say about this kid.  He's handsome, brilliant, funny, anxious, enthusiastic, and can be sooooo hard to parent.  Mr. Man only knows how to do things one way, full ON. Intense is a HUGE understatement. (By the way, he hated the school program in this picture more than anything because they had to be Mer-People and at 4 years old he had already decided that was waaaayyyy too girly for him.)  

He reads like you can't believe.  He finished all 7 Harry Potter books in less than a year.  At school they can take AR tests, which test for comprehension and award the student points based on difficulty of the book and how they do on the test.  Harry Potter 6 had something like 45 points, one of the hardest on the list, and he scored 44.  Last year he won the award for most AR points.  I was really proud of him.

He's super sensitive.  He has a huge heart and is really compassionate toward animals.  Here he is showing me a ladybug on the beach in Costa Rica.  He worries about the health and safety of our pets maybe a little too much.  He gets really upset during kids movies about animals during the obligatory part where the bad guy is being mean to the animal.  R and I have to remind him-it's only 

                                      a movie!

Here he is 2 years later in Costa Rica holding some sort of sea creature he found on the beach.  He has a lot of anxiety in some areas of his life, yet in others he's really adventurous and brave.  You can see by the look on his face how excited, yet freaked out he his.  Every time this kid tries something new, I am thrilled.  But when he goes for something, he goes full force which can freak me out.  It took him several years to work his way up through the roller coaster type rides at Lagoon, but this last year, not only did he ride Wicked, which I think is terrifying, but he jumped on Blast-Off and Re-entry without a second thought, which I refuse to do.  He's a nut on his bike, 4 wheeler and snowboard.  It's when he isn't in control that his anxiety starts to surface.  But he works through it, and when he does I appreciate how strong his spirit is. 

There's a moose behind him in this picture.  Zoltar is totally unfazed, but Mr. Man is not sure what the hell his parents are doing!  Which I think is his main sentiment regarding R and myself as his parents.  He's one of those kids that is sure he knows at least as much as we do, and he may be right when it comes to the facts, but it is impossible to convince him that experience begets wisdom, and we might just have a little more of that than he does.  He just thinks we are old which means our brains are already deteriorating so we couldn't possibly know better than he.  

He's not much a team sports kid, but he does love individual pursuits, like snowboarding, surfing, and most notably, karate.  He's at purple belt, plus he does the tournament team and when he turned 10 he began the leadership training program.

Here he is demonstrating the bo weapon form.  It's so fun to watch.  I've never seen him be so dedicated and work so hard for something.  It's waaayyyy too expensive, but to me it is a non-negotiable expense.  It has developed him more than anything else in his life.  I can't possibly imagine taking that away and I'm pretty sure he will go all the way with it.

He's a natural born actor.  He can memorize lines like it's nothing and he delivers like a natural.  I'd love for him to pursue this talent a little more but his karate takes up much of his free time.  He has mentioned that when he gets to Jr. High he would like to audition for the plays they put on each year.  I think he'd be great at it.

My beautiful boy is growing up right before my very eyes, sometimes obstinate and sassy like a teenager, sometimes silly like a big kid, sometimes whiny and out of sorts like a toddler.  He has many challenges to face in his life.  He has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and recently has begun showing signs of Tourettes Syndrome as well.  I guess if I had to deal with that each day I might get a bit pissy sometimes too.  And yet he handles it with such grace.  He isn't embarrassed.  He doesn't try to hide it.  He just tells it like it is and so far the kids and teachers at school have been very gracious.  He has a regular group of kids he hangs out with during school and some very good friends he hangs out with at home and on the weekends.  He doesn't worry much about being "cool", which ultimately is better than being pre-occupied by it, but there I times I wish he worried enough to care if his clothes match!  Lately, though, he has been asking me what girls like in a guy.  I'm NOT ready for that, that's for sure!

I love this boy ferociously.  He knows exactly which buttons to push to make me nuts and can debate the point for hours.  He lets his emotions all hang out and you never have to guess where you stand with him or what he thinks about something.  I love that.  He's terrified/fascinated about aliens, but just can't help looking at alien encounter books at the library.  He, being a typical OCD person, worries too much about the things he can't definitively prove or disprove, like said aliens and Big Foot and ghosts.  Night time at our house is not nearly as peaceful as I would like. He hates sleeping alone and ends up on our floor many nights.  

And yet there is such clarity with him at times.  He is the one that will stop and say, "wait a minute here.  Let's just all take a deep breath and start over" when things are going terribly wrong between us.   And as much as his brother drives him crazy, and as mean as he can be to Zoltar, he will defend him to the end if he thinks anyone else is being mean.  He will cuddle with his brother when he is afraid and the few times I have thought Zoltar is lost, it's Mr. Man that freaks out the most.  He has always been very spiritual even though we don't spend much time talking about such things around here.  He has spent a lot of time thinking about the nature of the Universe already, and has developed his own theory about life after death. 

There is so much to this young man that when I stop and think about it I am humbled and deeply gratful that I am the lucky person that gets to be his Mom.  He's not only my wonderful boy, he's been one of the greatest teachers I've ever had.  And I am proud to say, at least for now, he's also my friend.  Love you Mr. Man!