Lewie - My Eight Year-Old Dreamer

Ever since Lewie started talking (around age two), I've been recording his funny sayings and comments.  Since age five, I've been having more formal interviews--What is your favorite color? What do you want to be when you grow up?  Sometimes his answers change from year to year; then again, sometimes they stay the same.  I think you'll see why this year, at age eight, I have labeled him "The Dreamer."

Here is my son's world as an eight year-old.  Let me introduce you to "Lewie Pro-Skills" or "The Enchanted Diamond Lewie":

Q:  What is your favorite color?

A:  Orange

Q:  What is your favorite book?

A:  The Polar Express  (Of course, we also love books by Mo Willems, and lately we've been bringing books home from The Magic Tree House series.)

Q:  What is your favorite cartoon?

A:  SpongeBob Square Pants

Q:  What is your favorite movie?

A:  Captain America: Civil War

Q:  What is your favorite song?

A:  "Once I was seven years-old"  (Translation "7 Years" by Lukas Graham.  He didn't want to turn 8 because of this song.  "Mommy, I wish I could be seven forever.") 

Q:  What is your favorite board game?

A:  Uno (Okay, that's a card game, but that is his favorite!)

Q:  What is your favorite computer game?

A:  Minecraft  (but lately he's been playing a lot of Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare)

Q:  What is your favorite place?

A:  "The train museum" - he is referring to the Danbury Railway Museum

Q:  What is your favorite thing to do at school?

A:  Recess

Q:  Who is your favorite teacher?

A:  Mrs. Kranz (his teacher from kindergarten)

Q:  What is your favorite sport?

A:  Basketball

Q:  What is your favorite food?

A:  French Toast

Q:  What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?

A:  To take walks and jump on the trampoline

Q:  What do you want to be when you grow up?

A:  A YouTuber (like Dan TDM from the Diamond Minecart or Pat and Jen from PopularMMOs)

Sayings - "Don't judge me."  "To be honest to you..."  "Mommy, I just love my life."  

"Four hours later."  "Let me customize my character."  "Can I watch just one more video?"

I must say that Lewie is growing up during a different generation, and there is no doubt that pop culture is playing a major influence.  As part of the "Selfie Generation," he is interested in Facebook, blogs, YouTube, and Instagram.  He doesn't have his own accounts, but he'll often ask me to take a picture or video and then post it to Facebook.  When he plays his video games, he narrates to an imaginary audience (as if he is practicing for his big YouTube debut).  In fact, while I've been typing this blog post, I've had to ask him to speak a little softer because it gets difficult to concentrate over his loud, animated, monologue.

This is the first year that Lewie has generally been interested in my blog, and he wants to see what I post.  He wants to see his pictures and videos, and he wants to know how I create everything.  In fact, if I had to say one defining characteristic about Lewie at this age, it's that he wants to make and create EVERYTHING.  Here are just a few things he wants to invent/make:

* An electric car that runs on solar with advanced GPS tracking 

* A train that runs on solar power

* His own medicines to cure diseases

* His own Lionel toy train sets (He would sell them on Amazon...as he explains.)

* His own video games

* His own YouTube channel
* His own music mixes

* His own search engine like Google

Sometimes when he considers his plans, he tries to figure out the pricing and the marketing.  He hasn't become a true entrepreneur yet because he wants to give everything away for free or close to free.  "Mommy, my cars are going to be super safe.  I don't want to charge a lot because I want everyone to drive in a safe car.  I probably won't charge more than $100."  In this case, my son may be more of a philanthropist.

I've considered signing Lewie up for computer classes.  (He's expressed interest in Photoshop, web design, game design, game animation software, etc.)  However, his reaction to taking classes proves that he's still way too young: "I don't need to take these classes, Mommy. I already know it."

Hmmm... to be an eight year-old is to be caught somewhere in between the world of imagination and the world of reality.  My son is constantly dreaming big things but he doesn't necessarily want to embrace the reality of how he can get there.  So for now, I let my son embrace this wonderful sense of childhood wonder and curiosity...

Maybe one day, he will invent the very first solar powered car.

A Day Off From School

I don't normally endorse "playing hooky," but I promised my son I would take him for a day to Lake Quassy Amusement Park if he had a good attitude about school (and homework) during his first week.

Sure enough, the "coaxing" worked.  Lewie was definitely more positive about school, and we had a beautiful Friday morning and afternoon to enjoy one last day of summer fun.  In fact, once my mom learned about the plan, she asked to come too, and while she couldn't go on all the rides with us, she did get to enjoy a few train rides, a boat ride (on the Quassy Queen), some lunch and ice-cream, and quite a few games of skee ball.

The first of several train rides.

Lewie on the Pirate Swing.   This ride definitely won 'first place' this year.
We may have gone seven times that day.

Time for the arcade and skee ball!

Waiting for the Quassy Queen.

Captain Joe allowed Lewie to drive!

Lewie then requested a ride on the paddle boats.  His legs were still a little too short
to reach the pedals, so I did most of the paddling.  Great exercise!

I couldn't get this eight year-old on the Merry-Go-Round this year.  Maybe next time.

Another train ride!

Lewie wanted a picture with his face in the window.  Silly boy!

The "true secret" to playing hooky this year is that for the past four years in a row, we always come to Lake Quassy on the last Friday before Labor Day.  (This is when the park officially closes down on week days, and there are very little people.)  We've been fortunate these last few years not to begin school until after Labor Day but not this year...  I had planned this day all along, but hey, it was so much fun to see Lewie "earn" the day, which he truly did.  A little positivity goes a long way...

Our first Quassy adventure (when Lewie was four) is posted here:
http://mommyspirit.blogspot.com/2011/09/first-amusement-park-adventure.html

First Day of School - Second Grade

Little Lewie's first day of school was Monday, August 29.  The night before, he went to bed in panic. There were many reasons, according to Lewie, not to like school this year--"all my friends are in another class, the teacher will rush me, the work will be hard, the school bus driver yells."

I knew we were not off to a great start; after all, half of our perceived experiences in life are real and half are mental.  If we started the school year thinking it was going to be a disaster, we could already guess the outcome.

I had to give him a pep talk and then do what I do best...offer an incentive:  "Lewie, we have to change our attitude.  It might be a great year.  You might love your new teacher, and you might love your new classmates.  In fact, let's make a deal.  If you have a good attitude about school this week, I will let you take Friday off, so we can go to Lake Quassy Amusement Park.  But, the rules are that I cannot hear any complaining about school."

I'm not sure if my bribe worked or if Lewie really did have a great first week, but so far, this year is starting with lots of positives.  1)  Lewie has a new school bus driver that he likes, 2) Lewie likes his new teacher because she doesn't rush him, 3) He already had a chance to be the "helper" in his class, 4) He was able to play tag with all of his old classmates at recess, and 5) His teacher doesn't believe in giving homework during the first or last week of school.  (Again, these are all pluses to an eight year-old boy.)  

All I know is last week has been a dream.  The energy in the house is so different when you have a child that enjoys school (or, at the very least, tolerates it).  I can officially announce today, we are ready to embrace second grade.  Let's make it a great year!