- Joined
- Dec 3, 2000
- Messages
- 3,002
I swear I'm terrified that my wife and I are stealing my son's childhood from him. He's eight years old , and in the third grade, and it's incredible how (overly?) mature he is at his age. Some recent incidents that I've noticed?
He's in the third grade reading at an eighth grade reading level. The last two book reports he's done were based on the attack on Pearl Harbor and a book entitled "Behind Barbed Wire" about the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WW2. (Or the "War in the Pacific" as he often refers to it) During his off time he studies mostly books on military aviation...for countless hours...although he does often spend a few hours READING the latest National Geographic to come into the house...on a weekend! As I type this he's reading "Johnny Tremain" (a book about a young man in the Revolutionary War.
Tomorrow's Halloween. It's also the usual night for Judo. I jokingly asked him if he was going to choose to go trick or treating or go to Judo tomorrow night. HE CHOSE THE JUDO!! Told me Halloween and candy aren't as important as Judo, and he needs to cut down on his candy intake anyways, cause it makes him feel jittery, upsets his stomach, and is bad for him.
Thankfully, Judo's already cancelled for tomorrow night, so he might go Trick or Treating like a normal freakin' eight year old afterall, even though he did ask me to stay home with him tomorrow night to help him practice and teach him some throws and matwork.
When we go to Judo and I ask him how it went for him, he tells me all about his little victories during practice, I'll nod, smile and tell him that's cause he's a tough little cookie. He disagrees. He says it's because he thinks really hard about how to beat the other kids and he's very fast. (humble, aint he?)
Recently he got his Permanent Fund Dividend, about thirty bucks for a monthly allowance and a reward for good behavior, as well as the hundred bucks he'd been saving since last Christmas. We took him into Anchorage to buy himself something special. So, where does an eight year old boy wanna go first? To make a long story short his final decision was between a Ruger Bearcat .22 revolver and a small Benchmade pocket knife. He chose the Bearcat so he could "shoot small game while hiking in the woods with his mom and I" "and it might also be good for me to have in an emergency". (Don't worry folks, the gun lives with me, and only gets used under tightly controlled circumstances)
Oh, and on the topic of guns...
Of all the big, black space age looking guns he wants an M-1 Garand more than any other weapon. He went on to tell me how if he were in WW2 he would want an M-1 Garand because it shoots a good powerful bullet and it has really long range. He wouldn't want one of those full auto machine gun things because they just waste bullets. He'd want his Garand so he could hide some place really good, and make each shot count.??!! Here's the kicker..neither me, my friends or his grandparents have ever taught him this stuff. He does prefer to watch the History Channel and the Learning Channel over most cartoons though.
He's only been in two fights in school. One of them a boy was actively punching him, and the other one he got into a fight with THREE other kids, because they were "being mean to one of his friends who wasn't strong enough to defend himself" (Incidentally, yup he won both)
He never seems to willfully disobey us, and always seems to make the most mature decision when faced with difficult choices.
Don't get me wrong, I am a very proud poppa in alotta ways, But I didn't write this just to brag up my son. I'm honest to God wondering if we're pushing him too hard. He's an only child with no other kids near his age in the area. He's pretty well stuck with the wife, myself, his pitbull, and his cat for company. Between two working parents and a hectic schedule the play dates and visits with other children that we plan tend to be pretty scarce.
We were planning on starting him in on some guitar lessons when I get my seasonal layoff. Now I'm wondering if I need to drag his uptight little butt into Chuckie Cheese more often instead??
Is this all common parent stuff? Ack! If I'm this wrought up when he's a perfect little eight year old, imagine what the rebellious teen years are gonna do to me!
He's in the third grade reading at an eighth grade reading level. The last two book reports he's done were based on the attack on Pearl Harbor and a book entitled "Behind Barbed Wire" about the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WW2. (Or the "War in the Pacific" as he often refers to it) During his off time he studies mostly books on military aviation...for countless hours...although he does often spend a few hours READING the latest National Geographic to come into the house...on a weekend! As I type this he's reading "Johnny Tremain" (a book about a young man in the Revolutionary War.
Tomorrow's Halloween. It's also the usual night for Judo. I jokingly asked him if he was going to choose to go trick or treating or go to Judo tomorrow night. HE CHOSE THE JUDO!! Told me Halloween and candy aren't as important as Judo, and he needs to cut down on his candy intake anyways, cause it makes him feel jittery, upsets his stomach, and is bad for him.
Thankfully, Judo's already cancelled for tomorrow night, so he might go Trick or Treating like a normal freakin' eight year old afterall, even though he did ask me to stay home with him tomorrow night to help him practice and teach him some throws and matwork.When we go to Judo and I ask him how it went for him, he tells me all about his little victories during practice, I'll nod, smile and tell him that's cause he's a tough little cookie. He disagrees. He says it's because he thinks really hard about how to beat the other kids and he's very fast. (humble, aint he?)
Recently he got his Permanent Fund Dividend, about thirty bucks for a monthly allowance and a reward for good behavior, as well as the hundred bucks he'd been saving since last Christmas. We took him into Anchorage to buy himself something special. So, where does an eight year old boy wanna go first? To make a long story short his final decision was between a Ruger Bearcat .22 revolver and a small Benchmade pocket knife. He chose the Bearcat so he could "shoot small game while hiking in the woods with his mom and I" "and it might also be good for me to have in an emergency". (Don't worry folks, the gun lives with me, and only gets used under tightly controlled circumstances)
Oh, and on the topic of guns...
Of all the big, black space age looking guns he wants an M-1 Garand more than any other weapon. He went on to tell me how if he were in WW2 he would want an M-1 Garand because it shoots a good powerful bullet and it has really long range. He wouldn't want one of those full auto machine gun things because they just waste bullets. He'd want his Garand so he could hide some place really good, and make each shot count.??!! Here's the kicker..neither me, my friends or his grandparents have ever taught him this stuff. He does prefer to watch the History Channel and the Learning Channel over most cartoons though.
He's only been in two fights in school. One of them a boy was actively punching him, and the other one he got into a fight with THREE other kids, because they were "being mean to one of his friends who wasn't strong enough to defend himself" (Incidentally, yup he won both)
He never seems to willfully disobey us, and always seems to make the most mature decision when faced with difficult choices.
Don't get me wrong, I am a very proud poppa in alotta ways, But I didn't write this just to brag up my son. I'm honest to God wondering if we're pushing him too hard. He's an only child with no other kids near his age in the area. He's pretty well stuck with the wife, myself, his pitbull, and his cat for company. Between two working parents and a hectic schedule the play dates and visits with other children that we plan tend to be pretty scarce.
We were planning on starting him in on some guitar lessons when I get my seasonal layoff. Now I'm wondering if I need to drag his uptight little butt into Chuckie Cheese more often instead??
Is this all common parent stuff? Ack! If I'm this wrought up when he's a perfect little eight year old, imagine what the rebellious teen years are gonna do to me!
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