I've been debating on whether I should blog about this particular topic or not. But then I remembered that this blog serves as a kind of scrapbook for our family and not just a way to inform others of our activities, so I decided to include it. WARNING: I'm going to brag about my kids here. Stop reading if you don't want to be offended.
Ben and I were among the first of our group of friends to get married, and as such we were also among the first to have children (even though we were married almost five years before Maria joined us). What that means now is that Maria, at 11 years old, is pretty much the oldest of the kids when we get together with our Miami friends. And Sam, at almost 8 years old, is also older than most of the other kids. And both Maria and Sam enjoy helping and hanging out with younger kids at many of our get-togethers.
At Miami Alumni weekend in June, both Maria and Sam helped with the younger kids as there were large inflatable obstacle courses and the 3-year-olds (mainly Elliot Owsley and Rachel Stuller) had trouble getting through on their own. Maria loves helping any of the younger kids, but Sam really likes being an older brother-type to the younger boys, so he hung out with Elliott quite a bit. After that weekend, we received a message from Andrea thanking Maria and Sam for helping with their kids. Both Doug and Andrea mentioned that their enjoyment of Alumni weekend was better since Maria and Sam helped with Elliott. They also mentioned how polite our kids were, and how they were both able to carry on conversations with adults. Maria also helped Doug assemble their tent at the Stullers' on Memorial Day weekend. The Owsleys even sent Maria and Sam a gift card to Cold Stone Creamery to thank them for their efforts. Certainly not expected or necessary, but very appreciated.
This past weekend was Ben's big birthday bash, and once again our house was invaded by lots of younger kids. This can make our kids, especially Sam, a little protective of their own stuff. We really went out of our way to put away anything that might get ruined by younger kids, but Sam still seemed anxious about the invasion. So I was pleasantly surprised by an e-mail from Elise telling us that Sam spent some time with Joe, her son who is almost a year old. Elise's note stated that Sam was not only enjoying hanging out with Joe, but was able and willing to carry on a decent conversation with Elise and her husband Mark. And it felt so good to hear that Sam made an impression on his own - without having to be in his sister's shadow.
Needless to say, Ben and I are always extremely pleased to hear these comments, and pass them on to the kids in a way that hopefully lets them know we're proud of them and that their behavior makes an impression on people. We are hopefully successfully riding that fine line of passing on the compliments without causing them to get complacent about their behavior. The surprising part, to me, is not the manners as much as the willingness to carry on adult conversations. Of course we talk with our kids, but have never made a point of teaching any conversation skills except the importance of using manners at all times. I guess they must have picked that up along the way.
And as long as I am bragging about them, maybe a little pat on the back for Ben and I is in order as well. I just hope the kids continue to be so polite as they grow up.
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