Jack

Culture Fair Project 

Christmas gift

Jack is 10 years old and is definitely in the tween years. He is smart, funny, and handsome. He loves school but mostly for the social scene. He is a good student and always gets his work completed and maintains good grades. He plays touch football and basketball with his school. He likes to win but gets frustrated when his team is not doing well. He enjoys legos, pokemon, minecraft, playing board games, playing on his iPad, and hanging out with friends. Above he is presenting his research on Portugal. Below is his latest game. He loves to play games, strategize, and win. I will admit, I enjoy playing board games with him. If ever there is a loss for what to do, I can always count on some Mom and Jack time via a game of scrabble. He likes talking. Often we will all sit in the living room and just talk about anything and everything. We share stories, laugh, plan and dream as a family. Jack also loves to eat. Food is his love language. He is willing to try new foods and has a sweet tooth. He is rarely full. He has started attending youth group at our church and is eager to find out where he will attend middle school. This has yet to be decided. He is in a new developmental stage. Like other preteens, he can be moody, sarcastic, and a bit egocentric. It is a new and interesting world for us. He will request that I pick out his clothes, yet will reject the ones I pick out. If it's cold outside, he refuses to wear warm clothing. I have purchased him pants. He wears shorts. We buy him new shoes, he chooses to wear the old ones. I provide him with a jacket, he wants to wear only a hoodie. These things I can handle. I know to pick my battles. The girl/boy thing has started too. He is now dealing with many emotions, confusion, and sometimes some bad choices. I struggle with this more. One minute he is playing legos with his brother and the next he is requesting to be able to instant message or email a girl from school. My baby changed over night. And with this change, our parenting has to change too. I am studying up on tweens and teens, praying, and asking God for guidance with this new stage. We love Jack so much and I pray God provides us with the wisdom and knowledge to raise our precious first born into the young man that God has purposed him to be one day. Years ago when we decided to start a family, it didn't magically happen. It took time and there was much heartache and tears in the process. We prayed and prayed for a baby and then God gave us Jack. We are so honored that God has allowed for us to be his parents. Parenting continues to be hard work and brings new understanding and enlightenment regarding our own relationships with God. “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48).