Kevin at Eleven

I am well aware that it is nowhere near Kevin’s birthday. I am also well aware that I have missed at least one or two of Kevin’s birthday posts b/c his birthday falls right during our family vacation every year. Though I have every intention of whipping out a post for him when we get back, the time just keeps on flying and then we go to the cottage and then back to school and then . . . .well it got missed again.

So since my last three posts are birthday posts for the other three kids, I figured that there is no time like the present to get a Kevin post done too!

How to describe my firstborn son? Well perhaps I should start with a limerick about him.

There once was a boy named Kevin

Back in August he turned eleven.

He really loves to play

Hockey all day.

That is our boy named Kevin.

Or how about a quatrain:

Kevin likes to go to school,

Phys.Ed, recess, and lunch.

He thinks these subjects are quite cool,

And likes them a whole bunch.

As I sat down with Kevin to work on his poetry project with him last week, a few things about Kevin were reinforced in my mind. Kevin really enjoys school . . . but certainly not because of all the nifty things he can learn in a day or week. Kevin rarely has homework and rarely studies (much to my chagrin!!). He seems to get the job done . . . but I think the effort is most definitely lacking. As I read over some of Kevin’s poems, I just had to shake my head. There was a whole lot of “get the job done . . . and the sooner the better!” kind of poetry going on. His imagination was not having some of its finer moments. So to try to poke and prod him on to a bit of fine tuning was a job!! Now I realize everyone is not a poet, but some of his poetry was bordering on pathetic. It took a lot of restraint to not make him start over!!

There was also an opportunity to gain bonus marks on this project by doing a bit of extra work. Kevin wasn’t interested. At all. I can’t say I get it, but I’m kind of figuring him out. He is not like me. That is okay. Figuring out how to blend our two very different approaches to learning/school is a work in progress. Anyhow, Kevin does love Phys.Ed, recess, lunch and the bus ride and social time. The rest is just putting in hours, though he is very fond of his teacher!

As for Kevin and hockey? It is still his passion. It is his favorite sport and I’m pretty sure that our basement has not had a break from him, since we moved in – except when we were in Florida. He spends hours down there on roller blades or shoes, just taking shots or having shots taken on him. Mostly he is alone, but he does get Kade and Jonathan down on occasion and Kylie and Karter take their turns too. Through the winter, Kevin plays hockey/ learns hockey skills once a week with a group from church with Jonathan and another dad teaching. He loves it . . . . not so much the skills part, but he loves the game. Then in the spring, he does 3 on 3 for 8 weeks. This is where we see that the skills part is so important. He does all right, but you can definitely see the difference b/w him and the kids who grow up in the minor hockey system. It’s been really good for him though.

Kevin will say his next favorite sport is volleyball, and then baseball and then soccer. I think he shines the most on the soccer field. I absolutely love watching him play (soccer and other sports too!). He plays with determination and passion. He likes to be on the field and would play the whole game (in soccer) if he could. He’s got energy. His competitive nature is still there, but I think it has waned hugely. He still likes to win, but I think (from what I see anyway – maybe his phys.ed teacher would say differently!) he is quite gracious about losing. Maybe it’s because he’s gotten so much experience in this department over the years. (The teams he has been on lately all seem to be ummm. . . .inferior?) But that is okay.

Kevin also likes to watch hockey, though we haven’t been able to do it at all for the last NHL season, but he does like to watch the highlights the next day (when he is allowed) and keep up with things a bit that way.

Kevin loves Karter and I need to record some of his quotes here for future reference. Lately Karter has shown a very evident love for hockey as well. He actually goes down to the basement on his own and plays. I’m not kidding. So we like to remind Kevin that he will likely be the one that Karter is bugging in 5-10 years to “play hockey with me!!” Kevin promises us that he will be an awesome big brother and play with Karter whenever he asks. (this is a bit of an intended guilt trip for Jonathan) We then remind Kevin that he may have a girl friend or a cell phone or an ipad or some other interesting things that might be a priority at that time. He paused only briefly and reinforced that he’d rather play hockey with Karter. We really hope so!! Now it’s here for the record. I may have to pull this up in the future!

Kevin and Kade, although as different as night and day, have been spending a lot more time together lately too. I still think Kevin’s choice of “things to do” wins most often, but they do have enough shared interests, that Kade gets his fun in there too. They enjoy the woods and fort building, soccer, baseball, lego, and making messes.

Kevin is a fairly social kid. He enjoys his friends and I think they enjoy him too. He also enjoys his many cousins . . . even the girl ones! These two are two peas in a pod and have great fun together. They enjoy being in the same class and one of their favorite jokes is to compliment the other on their good looks – b/c then they are complimenting themselves too, since everyone says they look so much alike.

Kevin continues with his piano . . . though it’s been rather sporadic (especially with the arrival of spring). He continues to dislike it, but does like to plunk out a hymn from his piano book once in a while without being told. I still think he is fairly quick learner (though we plod along b/c of his amount of practice time) and I think he has good potential, so we carry on. I think it is a good discipline and remind him often that if he gets to enjoy the things he loves – like arena time, then he can also give a bit of time to this “talent” as well.

Kevin has been our in house babysitter for the last little while and we really enjoy it. He usually does a good job too . . . although there are things he still needs to learn! We appreciate that he is willing to do it!

We had a beautiful Alaskan Malamute for about 6 weeks before it got hit at the road. This was very tragic for most of us, but hit Kevin the hardest. He really bonded with “Julius” in the short time we had him and really enjoyed his companionship and energy. We now have a much more mild mannered (ahem . . . lazy) dog whom we are all enjoying very much too. (more on that soon)

Kevin enjoys a good book – but usually only in bed. It is very rare for him to be seen reading during the day . . . and if he is . . . it must be a VERY exciting book.

Kevin’s goal as of late is to be a farmer. He wants to have nice tractors and a barn full of cows I think. He really wants to get a job helping a farmer and we remind him that he needs to work hard. He used to be very diligent and hard working. That has definitely slipped lately, though he is working on it again. It is easy for him to focus on the fun and games, and think he is entitled to do whatever HE wants. This is somewhat our own fault, as we have fallen into the “it’s easier to just do it myself” mode lately. But we are seeing the results of that and are trying to crack down on this tendency to be lazy. Being a hard worker is very important to us and is something we really want to instill in each of our kids.

As with most kids, Kevin has bouts of “severe attitude”. He seems to go through phases/stages rather often. He mostly thinks he knows best and probably better than mom and dad anyway.

Kevin is also a talker. In fact it is often hard to get him to stop. When we are having a “discussion” or “teaching moment”, it is hard to get anything across b/c he just doesn’t’ stop. He needs to explain and explain and explain . . . despite how often we ask him to “stop talking and just listen!!!”. The joys!!

Kevin has taught us much. In a lot of ways, he is our guinea pig. He is our first and therefore has a lot of responsibilities . . . but also a lot of privileges. He mostly takes his responsibilities seriously . . . often looking out for his siblings just because he is older and “responsible in a way” for them.

Kevin, we love you very much. We love your passion for life and for fun. Some advice for you right now . . . Always work as hard as you play!! Also, make sure you make time to grow spiritually. You are diligent with your devotions most of the time, but make sure you are loving this time and cherishing it. It is easy to rush through the bible reading at the end of the day and snuggle in with a good book. (I know!!) But there is so much value in really loving God and His Word. Make the time buddy and you will grow. Make sure you let it go past your head and into your heart too. You will never regret the time you give to God. This is our challenge for you. We love you dearly and pray that you will continue to grow in grace and in your love for the Lord. That is most important!