Social Man - Superhero Elliott

For the past few years on Sundays after we go to church my family has the wonderful privilege to visit a nonagenarian who lives close by. Since bringing all of the kids into her home would probably result in a few broken antiques and collectibles, each week we rotate which child gets to come with me for the visit. They all love to go and keep perfect track of the order so I don't mess up and give one child an unfair number of turns.

This week was Elliott's turn and he did a great job being social and bringing a smile to her face. When we first got there he ran to the toy bucket that is kept out for visitors and he grabbed a pirate sword. Instead of keeping it for himself he brought it over to the lady we were visiting. He then got one for himself so they could sword fight. Later, as I visited with her he sat quietly on the couch. As we were getting ready to go, I was talking to the lady's son who has become a good friend of mine. As we were talking I noticed Elliott was following along saying uh-huh, oh, and really at various times throughout the conversation. He was so cute and kind, that I had to fly him all the way back to the car.

Elliott was my superhero today for warming hearts with his sweet sociability.

Little Teacher - Superhero Julia

As Rebecca and I were preparing dinner this evening, Christian came into the room and asked us which animal has three stomachs? I asked if he was maybe talking about a cow and I told him that I think they have four stomachs. He said it isn't a cow, it is the animal with three stomachs that eats leaves. Rebecca and I were both puzzled, but luckily Julia overheard things. She ran into the room and informed us that he was talking about a camel. Surprised, Rebecca asked Christian where he learned that. He proudly said, Julia (7) taught me.

I later looked it up and on Wikipedia it says that camels only do have one stomach, but that stomach has three parts and the food moves from one to the next. So although Christian wasn't exactly right, he was really close and I was impressed by his knowledge. But, more importantly I thought it was really cool that Julia was sharing what she was learning in school with her brothers.

Today, Julia is my superhero for being a teacher for her younger brothers.

Playroom pick-up - Superhero Ethan

When we lived in New York we knew a great couple who had five younger boys. They invited us over to their house one time and Rebecca and I were impressed with how clean they kept things with so many young ones running around. Then the boys invited me to go downstairs to play with them. They opened the door to the basement and it was like stepping into another dimension - I literally could not see the floor because of the toys that were down there. Perhaps the mom saw the surprise on my face because she later offered an explanation. She said that the policy in their house was to let the boys have free reign downstairs because that was their playroom, but they were not at all allowed to bring toys or make a mess anywhere upstairs.

At the time Rebecca and I had two children and we thought that policy was a little extreme. After all, how could anyone have fun playing when there is such a big mess all around them? Now that we also have five young children we understand much better that family's philosophy. Although we haven't adopted it for our family, our downstairs is our playroom and it does often get messy with toys. To keep things from getting to far out of control though we have adopted a rule that the children have to pick up whatever set of toys they were last playing with before they get another set out or start with another activity.

While Ethan (6) was at school, Christian had been playing with the blocks. Later that evening we were ineffectively encouraging him to pick up his blocks when Ethan came down and out of the blue asked if he could help. As he started to put the blocks away for his brother, Christian started to follow his example and together they completed the task.

Today, Ethan is my superhero for helping his brother and setting an example for him.

Sharing Snacks - Superhero Christian

This evening we were having guests (missionaries from our church) come over for dinner. The kids always get really excited about company, but this evening the missionaries couldn't come over until 6:30. Since we usually eat at 5pm, we knew that this was going to be a problem. Although we tried to do snacks a little later, when 6pm rolled around Christian (4) started asking for a snack. Not wanting to spoil his dinner, he was just given a bowl of leftover oatmeal. He must have been famished because as soon as it was placed in front of him he started digging in. Isn't funny how anything tastes good when you are hungry. Thinking back on it now, we should have tried mushrooms or spinach first. 

Elliott (our biggest eater right now) soon found out that there was food to be eaten and so he came running in. Although Christian was starving he shared every other bite of the oatmeal with his brother Elliott.

Christian is my superhero today for sharing his much desired snack with his brother.

Great Big Sister - Superhero Julia

Today was Ethan's first day of first grade. Although he was excited to start, we could tell he was a little bit nervous too. And although we should be pros at this from all of our experiences with sending him off to school last year, Rebecca and I were a little nervous too. Luckily, his big sister Julia (7) was there to help. On the ride to school this morning I heard her making plans with Ethan about how they can say hi at lunch and where they could meet during recess time. When we got there, she also reminded him of some of the school rules (i.e., taking your hood off in the building). She then took him by the hand, helped him say hi to his new teacher (she was in her class last year), and led him to the spot where he was supposed to line up.

Julia is my superhero today for helping out her brother on his first day of school.

Yard Work Helper - Superhero Ethan

For the past few months I have been mowing the lawn for someone from my church who has been experiencing health problems. It has been a fun way for me to set an example of service for the children - I say fun because given the academic/intellectual nature of my job, I tend to find a lot of enjoyment in doing some physical activities throughout the week.

Today when I was hopping into the car to go do it, Ethan came running into the garage from the back door and shouted "bye Dad." Figuring that he could use some extra one-on-one time I asked if he wanted to come along and help. He excitedly said "yes" and off we went. Although he spent much of the time playing in their yard while we were there, he frequently checked in on me and helped me clean up when we were all done. Later, when we came home, I needed to mow our lawn as well. Instead of going off and doing other things, Ethan stayed out with me, kept me company, and continued to help me out.

Ethan was my superhero today for helping me provide the service for someone who was in need and for keeping me company while I worked throughout the day.

A Great Friend - Superhero Christian

Of all of our children, Christian (4) is the one who plays by himself the most. With a bucket of Legos or Duplos he could easily occupy himself for hours. But, he is also really good at playing with his siblings. With Julia and Ethan he often happily goes along with whatever games they may want to play, even if it means attending a tea party. And with Elliott he does a great job letting him tag along as he plays out scenes from Harry Potter or Star Wars.

Lately, Ethan has been having a rough time - we think he may be a little worried about starting first grade soon. Today, Christian was playing with him and he was starting to get a little too rough. Each time Christian got hurt or was not treated fairly, he came and told me and I had a talk with Ethan. I know I would have given up after a while and found something else to do, but each time when Ethan would say sorry and invite Christian to play with him again, Christian would give him another chance. Christian's application of the seventy times seven rule (see Matthew 18: 21-22) ended up softening Ethan up some and they ended up having a really good time playing together before dinner.

For being so forgiving while playing with his brother, Christian is my superhero today.

A Smile to Save the Day - Superhero Agnes

As babies, each of our kids has had their preferred parent. Although I was the lucky one for Julia, all of the others have preferred Rebecca over me to varying degrees. With Agnes there is no question at all about who she likes best. Sometimes I will be holding her and I think that we are having a good time, but as soon as Rebecca comes in to the room I find out she was only tolerating me because mom was not around. Without fail she will cry until I give in and hand her over. She frequently does play a fun little game with me though and today it really cheered me up. It usually starts when she is across the room and I will try to get her attention. Then, when she sees that I am looking at her she gives me a big smile. I smile back really big and then she looks away. Then she will look back to see if she still has my attention and then gives a big smile again. I smile back, she looks away, and so on. In playing this game I think she is trying to say "I love you and am happy to see you, just don't try to come take me away from Mom." Whatever she is thinking, the smiles I get always brighten my day. Today in particular the other kids were extra grumpy (perhaps from camping out on Friday night and staying up late to watch a movie last night), and so Agnes' smiles really kept me going.

Today, Agnes is my superhero for sharing her smiles with me.

Bath Time Helper - Superhero Julia

When it comes to baths, Rebecca and I usually like to take the divide and conquer approach - she helps the girls upstairs and I help the boys downstairs. Over the years we have found that this approach results in the fewest tears shed (by us and the kids) and the least water damage to our home. Now I am sure that Rebecca must have learned some magic spells from the Harry Potter books she reads to the kids, because when I am away, and she helps the kids with baths on her own, things usually turn out fine. However, when she is away, and I try to do the baths, it is never a pretty picture. No matter how much begging, explaining, or threatening I do, when I head upstairs to bathe Agnes, the boys almost always manage to get more water outside the tub than what is left in it. Often, when I come back down to finish up with them, Ethan blames Christian for the water, who then blames Elliott, and Elliott just looks at me with an innocent smile on his face.

I was expecting today's bath time adventure to be similar, but superhero Julia (7) saved the day. I put the water in the tub upstairs and got Agnes stripped down to her diaper so she would be all ready when I came back up. I then raced downstairs to get the boys' water going and make sure they all got in the tub. Once they were all in I ran upstairs and to my surprise Julia had taken Agnes' diaper off and together they had hopped in. Rebecca has assured me that Julia and Agnes are old enough to stay in the tub on their own as long as I frequently check in on them so I left them for a little bit. When I came back next, Julia was washing Agnes' hair and was doing a great job at it - she was singing a song to her and Agnes was as happy as could be. So I went back to wash hair downstairs and get the boys out of the tub. When I came back up again, Julia had Agnes out of the tub and was gently drying her off. She then proceeded to put on a clean diaper (even putting on baby powder), rub her up with lotion, and then dress her in her pajamas. Agnes was loving all of the special attention from her sister and I loved seeing Julia so kindly help her out.

Julia is my superhero today for helping Agnes in the bath and going out of her way to provide Agnes with the spa treatment.

Compliments on the Ride to School - Superhero Ethan

We have been taking advantage of the recent nice weather in Anchorage by riding our bikes to school in the morning. Although Ethan (6) doesn't actually start until next week, he has been wanting to wake up early and come along as we drop Julia off. Today as we were riding along we came to a hill where the kids usually have to get off and walk their bikes. Because my bike is in pretty bad shape (it has been through three Anchorage winters with daily rides to work), I can only make it part way up the hill as well before my chain starts slipping. Today I got about half way up before I had to get off and walk. When I did start walking I heard Ethan shout from the bottom of the hill "Great job Dad! Way to go!" I didn't even know he was paying attention, but it felt really good to have him cheer me on for making it as far as I did. We continued our ride to school, dropped Julia off, and then started the trip home. We usually do a race at the end and Ethan is always able to squeak out a win. Today, when I pulled in to our driveway right behind him he said "Great job dad, you were really close today."

Ethan is my superhero today for how considerate he was with sharing those compliments and trying to make me feel special.

Dinnertime Help - Superhero Elliott

Today, as I was preparing dinner, Rebecca (superhero wife and mom) asked if any of the kids would like to help set the table. Julia (7), Ethan (6), and Christian (4) are assigned Monday through Wednesday and they usually do a pretty good job of setting the table on their day. Although they are sometimes willing to help on the off days, today was library day and they were all busy with their books. After Rebecca asked a few times and they all politely declined, Elliott (our two-year-old son) shouted "I set table." He then jumped off the couch and ran to join me in the kitchen. It was fun to watch this little superhero as he walked around the table with the dishes, placing each in its proper place.

In our house the placement of the cups can sometime be a source of contention. Certain children always want certain colors and the three Lego Movie cups are always highly coveted. Since Elliott was helping I figured I would let him pass them out any way he wanted. As he walked around the table I asked him which cup he thought each person would like. He then looked closely at each of his options and in a cute voice say "Julia like this one" or "Ethan like this one." He of course got one of the Lego Movie cups. However, when one of his siblings came in to the room, she wanted to trade cups. I informed her that because Elliott set the table, he got to pick who got which cup. Disappointed, she stomped off crying. Even though he really wanted the cup he had given himself, when Elliott saw how sad she was he offered to trade with her. I was so impressed that he did that all on his own, without any prompting or encouragement.

Today, Elliott was my superhero for being so eager to help me set the table and for being kind to his sister by offering to trade cups.