William 6.8

William is really coming along in his reading skills. Hes on level J (which is well beyond what the goal for kinder is for most kids) and can read smoothly and quickly now, and is feeling more and more confidant about reading "small words." In fact, he just got his very first chapter book, and is nearly finished reading it. Hes read most of it by himself even (as in he hasn't read it to us, just to himself), which is a huge step in literacy! On top of that, he is finally interested in reading Harry Potter. We tried it back in the fall and he turned out to not be interested after all, but this time hes truly into it! I'm so excited :)

We have gotten the croquet set out now that the weather is nice, and we've been playing quite a lot lately. Hes actually pretty good, but we've had to have many, MANY discussions about sportsmanship and his reaction to disappointment and losing in particular. Hes just VERY competitive and hates to lose and will often either throw a fit, or want to scrap the entire game, after one bad hit. So we have been working on adjusting his attitude with regards to games. I know that he has had these sorts of tantrums at school as well so its a good opportunity to refresh in his brain, what we expect his behavior to be when things don't go his way. I have a feeling we will be working on this in various forms, for many years to come. As I told him, I struggled mightily myself with this issue when I was a kid, and I want him to get the concept sooner than I did!

Oddly enough however, he has an easier time with card and board games, with regards to losing. This past winter we played a lot of monopoly, Uno and Skip-Bo. He is actually really good at playing Skip-Bo and generally has a great attitude with regards to that game, whether he wins or loses! I've taught him that when he loses, he should say, "good game! Lets play again!" And he does with much grace. Its actually pretty fun to sit down and play a hand or two of Skip-bo with him. It brings back a lot of memories of doing the same with my grandma as a kid!

This past month we spent weeks going through every one of his thousands and thousands of legos, sorting them by color and type, and rebuilding a lot of his favorite sets. I would put all of the pieces needed for a kit, with the kit instructions, into a ziplock bag, and set them into a neat pile. By the end we had something like 20+ kit bags for him to build. He had a few weeks of fun every day after school, rebuilding those kits. If the weather was nice, I would send him out on the back lawn with a big blanket, and he would sit in the sun and build and build. Hes loved legos since he got his first set when he was 3, and nothing has changed! He comes up with the coolest vehicles and spends hours each week, crafting and creating constantly. I love it!

He still is doing great at his chores (taking out the compost and the garbages on trash day), and likes to spend his money as often as he can (we like to tease him that he has a hole in his pocket). Recently we went to Value Village and he spotted a Lincoln logs set. He immediately picked it up and bought it, and has added those creations to the list of things he loves to build. William is actually a pretty creative guy. Hes regularly makes all kinds of art (usually detailed drawings) and is getting really good at staying in the lines. His artistic ability has grown leaps and bounds this year for sure! And I love that he loves to create as many things as he does. I try to encourage it at every turn.

Finally, Michael was just promoted at work, to the position of Principle and Consulting Actuary. He came home that night and we explained it to Will that dad was a principle, and was in charge of some people at his company, like the principle at his school is in charge of people at the school. Shortly thereafter, my neighbor was telling me about a funny little conversation that she had with Will about this. Will told her that Michael is now the work principle - like the school principle! And that his work gave him a $100 dollar bill (I have no clue where he got this tidbit from, but its rather hilarious)! Its so funny how kids interpret the world. Will is a funny little guy!