Yes, once again, I’ve thought long and hard about birthday
posts for the kids and have managed to run much later than ever intended before
putting thoughts to print. I decided that I should actually pull my finger out
and get around to it though.
Emily
Back in late March, Emily made double figures. The baby of
the family has actually made it to ten (Did we ever doubt it? Well maybe a
little or perhaps it was her parent’s hair that was more at risk of being torn
out).
What can one say about Emily at 10? Part of the reason it
took so long to write this relates to how I answer that question on any given
day based, which is very behaviourally influenced. Emily oscillates between
being tired, grumpy and miserable and sweet as pie, between being responsible
and caring and devious and deceptive. She is a living dichotomy.
She is definitely Daddy’s girl. There are things that I can
ask her to do that she’ll happily jump up and do whilst if her Mother was to
ask there would be hell to pay with appropriate yelling and screaming.
Emily has decided that she’s musically inclined. I
deliberately say inclined rather than gifted because I think at this stage
there’s more desire than natural talent. Hell with a father that couldn’t tune
a guitar even after learning it for 6 years I’m blaming the genetics, not
pointing fingers. Of course there’s always the chance that she managed to
swindle a few genes from Nanny! For the last 2 years she has been learning the
violin and this year had to add a wind instrument to the repertoire ( she could
have dropped the violin but wanted to keep going). We tried to suggest that the
trombone would be fun (after all, there was already one in the house and so we
wouldn’t have to buy anything else) but she decided that the flute was more in
line with what she’d like to play (Yes, she’s 10 - American Pie references are
not required).
It would appear that Emily actually has something of a
talent for the flute, being well progressed in comparison to her peers and more
amazingly, actually inclined to practice of her own free will. She even managed
to teach herself hot cross buns. I can’t say that I’m expecting her in the
Symphony anytime soon, but it’s pleasant to see her enjoying it, even if her
brothers (particularly Sam) try and tell her to stop or go somewhere where they
can’t hear every time that she picks it up.
Emily loves he netball and is very excited to be playing
twice a week this winter. She’s played softball through the summer and done
well, but netball appears to be the sport of choice (much to her mother’s
disgust). It will be interesting to see how long it is before Caroline tries to
steer her more pointedly to the hockey pitch.
She is a budding fashionista , though I’m not sure based on
some of the shopping ventures I’ve been involved with whether she actually has
the taste for it and I know for a fact that I don’t have the wallet to support
any sort of fashion habit of note. Despite (or in spite of) growing up with
three older brothers that like to put her in her place and that have surrounded
her with Minecraft, Call of Duty and the like, she loves nothing more than to
have a girlfriend over and indulge in make overs (though like many girls her
age, needs to truly learn that less is more when it comes to the make up).
On the obstinate and sneaky side, she can be a little
shit brat. Getting Emily into bed requires active effort to
get past all the little things that she thinks of at the last minute and then
when you’ve finally managed that, there’s no guarantees. IPods, books and a
myriad of other potential distractions often have to be removed from the room
before she will finally give up and nod off to sleep. Checking that she is
really asleep is both essential and not as easy as you’d think. She is most
certainly accomplished when it comes to fake sleeping, though both Caroline and
I have advanced considerably with regards to our intuition and understanding of
asleep versus pretending.
Of course, when Emily decides to turn on the charm, it can
be simply amazing as to how nice she can be. There are many moments when that
charm is truly genuine (usually when she’s well rested and happy) and on those
occasions you can find yourself smothered in hugs and cuddles and enjoying
every moment and wondering if you really had wanted to throttle her just five
minutes ago.
All in all, Emily is a challenging little bundle of delight
and we love her to bits.
Michael.
At the other end of the spectrum that is our brood is
Michael. He has just turned 16 and that’s even scarier than the fact that the
youngest has just hit double figures.
Over the last year he has of course continued to grow and
has managed to top my height. He’s matured and is much more the young man than
the boy compared to where he was 12 months ago. He’s in the last month or so of
his journey with braces and that will no doubt add to the change and maturity
of is look.
Over the summer Michael didn’t really get into much
organised sport, though he did compete in some cross-country events and even
ran the city to bay with me. It’s always nice to be reminded of one’s aging
body by having your son run on virtually no training and smash your time.
This year Michael decided that he’d play club soccer over
the winter in addition to the school soccer that he played last year (and is
playing again this year). We were very happy and the fact that he’s gone out to
the same club that Thomas plays for at least adds some small measure of
convenience (even if it meant kissing goodbye to another couple of hours every
Sunday). It’s been great to see him developing his skills and approach to the
game though and I really pleased that he’s decided to do it (especially because
we didn’t have to force him).
It’s meant that if nothing else, there’s a couple more hours
of the week where he’s outside and we don’t have to try and disengage him from
his computer.
The most likely place you’re ever going to find Michael if
you call past our house is in his room, sitting on the bed with the lap top
out, the sounds of frenzied mouse-clicking permeating the air like a
single-note staccato symphony. He and his friends have become absorbed into an
online game (League of Legends) and so that’s there way of socialising – across
the internet.
With the amount of time that he spends doing that, there was
an element of despair about with regards to him ever meeting someone from that
‘other sex’ that the human race apparently has, but perhaps I needn't worry. That's all I am allowed to say.
School wise, Michael is tackling the IB programme, which I
am well pleased about. He seems to be performing well so far for the year and
so hopefully stays on that track.
He’s not often a trouble maker and so I guess we have to
offset some of the frustration with the amount of time spent hibernating (he’s
a tad difficult to get out of bed at times) and playing computer games with
thanks for his generally good nature.
And of course at 16, we embark on another new chapter –
driving. I think I might leave that for a more detailed discussion at some
other point, but suffice to say that he has his L’s and so far hasn’t crashed a
car!
We have many reasons to be proud of Michael and are thankful
that he is who he is.
