Compromise

Ethan doesn't like my blog. Don't worry, I don't take it personal. What 12 year old boy would enjoy pictures of him splashed all over the world wide web? He celebrated a birthday this summer so, I wanted to post baby pictures of him and express my love and happiness that he belongs to me. However, he wasn't going for it. As a compromise, I get to post a few current pictures of him. Later, when he complains that I loved the other kids more because I have more pictures of them posted I'll remind him of the compromise. (For those of you with young children: Enjoy it! Before long, they will have opinions and that is not always a happy thing.)

Ethan had a few friends over for a party this year. They played air-soft guns and his favorite card game KillerBunnies. I was called in to work at the end of the party. Aaron told me it was fine to go to work, Ethan wouldn't even notice I was gone. This was true. (Again, those of you with young children, enjoy it while they still think the sun, moon, and stars revolve around you.)

In my stead, Savanah took some pictures. Here is the highlights of Ethan's party.

Ethan turned twelve years old. This means he was able to receive the Aaronic Priesthood. He has been excited to serve in these new capacities. He is elated to be out of Primary and I can say, I really miss the guy even with his off the wall questions and comments while I am teaching. All of our family were able to come for his ordination. Aaron and I both come from big families so the hardest part was finding a room big enough to accommodate the crowd. (I sound like I am bragging, therefore I probably am. In my defense, we lived far away from our families for years and we missed being with them on special occasions.)

Ethan started school just a few weeks ago. In PE one day, he was playing kickball with the class. The bases were the walls of the gym. He was running around the bases trying to score on for his team, when he ran into the wall. Yep, he broke his wrist and of course, it's the one that he writes with. His new glow-in-the-dark cast in now part of his back to school wardrobe.
Vanessa can't wait until she is his age. She wants to break her arm so she can get a pink cast with sparkles. Ethan tried to explain to her about the pain involved but, she is all about the sparkles. After it happened, he came home from school and informed me they were putting him in Special Ed. Knowing that I work with special needs kids he said to me, "I don't want to be rude, but don't you think that will be a bit slow for me?" I agreed with him and took the matter to the school counselor. He clarified they wanted Ethan to be a Special Ed Aide during his PE class while his arm healed. I was able to convince the counselor that Ethan can still participate in PE on a limited basis and Ethan was grateful that I kept him out of the Lifeskills Class. See, I'm good at compromises.