Top Ten Thursday - Born in September

Welcome to Top Ten Thursday!

Today let's portray a person of your choice. List ten qualities you like about them, only condition is: they need to be born in September. All right? Plenty of wonderful people to chose from. 

As my baby boy Colin is turning 10 years old any day now - September 17 to be exact - I think it’s a good time to talk about him. Apologies to all the other fantastic people who were born in September, and there are plenty out there! 

What are his striking qualities?

• Intelligence. He’s super bright and a quick thinker. He has been from an early age which caused us to ask for him to skip the second year of Kindergarten and start school - not that 1st grade was much interesting for him. While he’s great at languages, his super talent is math. I’m glad because as he’s getting older it’d become harder for me to help with his homework.
• Upon the midwife’s home visit - Colin was about two weeks old - she noted “how incredible, that baby has found his Zen. He’s able to balance himself out. I’ve never seen anything like it." Wow. He was my first and only baby, I had no clue! As the years went by, my mind often went back to her statement, and I think I got to understand what she meant. If he was grumpy, tired, hungry, it never took long. He made sure things changed for the better. As a baby he cried hard until I complied. Now that he’s independent, he'll raid the fridge or the snack cabinet ;-) As for a bad mood, typically for not getting screen time, he’ll grab a book or pencils and paper and get busy. After a couple of minutes he’ll start whistling or humming which tells me he’s OK.

  

  This is one of my all-time favorite pictures: He's 2 years old, we're somewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area, and he's playing with his favorite emergency vehicles.

• Connecting. He started to attend daycare when he was 16 months old - pretty much forever ago. So he's used to come into a group of new kids and grown-ups at any given moment. When he started playing for his current hockey team he didn't know a soul except one buddy from hockey school. It didn't take long and upon dropping him off I could hear "hello Colin", "hey, how's it going" left and right. He perceives people’s vibes and knows how to approach them. To some he’ll talk business, others he’ll just hug. As a result he’ll get whatever he wants ;-) Kidding aside, he understands he needs to open the door to people’s hearts and minds, and he does so charmingly. He's got a sense of humor, too, and he loves to make people laugh. 
• Exploring and open minded. He’s interested in and curious about many things, and he asks questions and researches on his own. As a two year old he learned national anthems and flags. (watch that 5 minutes video, it's super cute) He can still do most of them today. Geography, foreign countries, ethnic foods and the like are some of his special interests. Sports, particularly ice hockey, is another. He pretty much knows every player of the Swiss league and many of the NHL. Jersey number, position, former teams, scorer points, ask him anything.
• Compassion. While he’s not talking about those things, he’s showing by his actions that he has a big heart and feels for other people. The other day at a hockey tournament, one of this teammates got a check to the head and left the ice to be taken care of by the team care person - another boy’s hockey Mom. He got a cold pack and some comfort while the other guys kept playing. As soon as their shifts changed, all the players headed to the board where they grabbed their water bottle and sat down to recover. All but one - one stalked all the way over to where his injured friend was sitting miserably to pat him on the back and wish him well. What a sweet boy, I thought. Wait a minute, that was my boy!!! So proud. 
• Even though he’s an only child, he’s not a spoiled brat. I can confidently say so even though I’m his Mom. He’s been around other kids to play, fight, compromise and share with since he's been very little.
• Resourceful. Not only can he get his own food, see above, he figures out all kinds of stuff. It’s a while back, but I’m still impressed about the one time he called a toy store to ask if a specific LEGO vehicle was available. Since the time he had to draw blood at the hospital he thought it was a human kid's right to get a new toy after a medical procedure. I made him call because I refused to drive into town and look for parking only to learn that we went there in vain. He was 8 at the time. “Hello, this is Colin Gerber calling” he said in his sweet little boy’s voice. “I’d like to find out whether the LEGO Speed Champion Ford Mustang is available at your store?” Obviously the sales person was too lazy to look it up and told him he needed to give her the item number. He looked puzzled for a second (and I was secretly shocked and pissed - why did that person make it so hard for him?) But then he said “can you hold on for a minute?” He put down the receiver and ran to his room where he grabbed the catalog. He quickly found the page that featured his car. “Are you there? The item number is 75871!” Boooom! Life was good, they had the toy, and we were on our way.
• We have tried to teach him "Life is not Christmas all year round, if you want something, you gotta do something.” While he’s not around much to help around the house, he entered an agreement with his Dad that includes good grades and money. It’s pretty much a non-brainer now that things still come easy for him. We’ll see in a couple of years. I think he does understand the importance of school and hard work, though. One of his class mates whom he likes to play with is a bright kid but super lazy, and obviously his Mom doesn’t do much about it. Obviously he constantly “forgets” to do his homework or doesn’t bring his books and the like. H’s got countless “notes” and warnings, and in a couple of years he’s gonna have to get his shit together or he’ll have trouble finding a job. Colin is like “how can he be like that? Why doesn’t he get it?” He’s tried to help his friend, but he’s not interested. He’d rather play soccer or video games.
• He’s polite and respectful towards teachers, daycare ladies, sales people and waiters. I hear tons of kids order “I want a Coke” - Colin’s all “may I have a Coke, please” - what a world of difference, right? So on special occasions we'll even go to a bar. He likes to strike up conversations with barkeepers. "I noticed you organize your liquor in alphabetical order" he said one time... 

  

  Not a Coke this time - freshly squeezed juice

• Even though he's clearly a big boy, he doesn't think it's embarrassing to hug me in public. I am completely aware of how lucky I am. My fellow Moms are not allowed to so much as wave hello at their sons. He'll also say "I love you" every day as I kiss him goodbye for school or hockey practice and tuck him in at bedtime. 

Wow, even though that sounds pretty awesome, right? He's my son, forgive me. He's a great kid, though, ask anyone. 

September 20 let's talk about odds... Do you believe in coincidence, what strange situations have you encountered that made you think "someone orchestrated this", are you a gambler,..? Many ways to go around this topic. Sign up here.

It's almost time for another photo scavenger hunt. How about we do it a bit differently this time? The theme is sit down, and you're supposed to take ten pictures of benches, chairs, seats,... link up here; we post September 27.