Project 16 to 16: Day 6

This is the stage of this project where, when you see the Boy in our "look back" photo, you can see at least a little bit of the "big guy" he has now become. It starts right around the time of his 5th birthday, around the time he started "grow up" it seems. It strikes a chord with me that it would be his fifth year where that he had so many milestones (the "Big 5" birthday, graduating preschool, starting martial arts and team sports) that his "big kid" personality would start to shine so brightly, but it certainly does!


I'll be honest, this was not the photo I had planned for today. I really wanted to see if I could bribe my guys into re-creating at least the pose from our flash-back photo. But in the end, I think this is the right look at today.

I snapped this right before bed tonight. The Boy had a full day. He's been helping out a whole lot around the house as both his dad and I have been under the weather. And he had a viola lesson this afternoon. And top all of that off with a good-sized stack of homework (which is certainly becoming the norm for this school year) and really, this was always going to be the photo for today.

I think it has surprised Wonder Boy that the course work has increased by SO MUCH this school year. It increases every year. He's come to accept that. But I truly don't think he was prepared for a jump in workload of this magnitude. He is beginning to adjust. We all are. But it has taken a bit longer than any of us could have anticipated.

In the end, we know this is a good thing. He needs to be prepared for when he goes off to college where the workload will be considerable, but there will not be anyone "cracking the whip" to make sure he gets it done. While I would love to lighten his load, I am thankful that working for the grades he wants to achieve will not be something new when he moves on to that next level.

Our flash back is one of my all time favorite photos of my guys together. It was taken on Father's Day 2006. Wonder Boy was at the height of his fascination with "the Incredibles" and he dubbed his daddy "Mr. Incredible" just as quickly as he assumed the role of "the Dash." We couldn't find any "Incredibles" shirts for Wonder Dad that summer, so we made our own! It became Wonder Dad's soccer jersey that fall and that made the season that much more special for Wonder Boy and for us all really. Wonder Boy really DOES have the most Incredible Dad ever!