Ethan is Seven
I remember giving birth to him like it was yesterday. Seven years have passed - seven years of being a mom to one of the most loving kids I have seen. Hey, no bias here. Okay, maybe a little. I know when parents say it because it's their child - but I do really believe that Ethan is indeed one of the best. We got to celebrate his birthday in Legoland California. I will post about our experience there next blog.
So here are some things about him (right now).
* He loves to swim - He could stay in the water for hours on end. He enjoys swimming the most. He's excited this summer for more swimming classes.
* He loves music, especially dancing - and I'd say he's pretty good at it. I think we all know where he got it from - (cough) me (cough).
* He is a picky eater - I can count on my fingers the food he would eat. Sometimes it's a struggle to feed him and make him try new things. I used to blame myself for this but when Clay came, who eats anything I give him, I relaxed a little bit. Same parents, same parenting style, different kids. Any of you have this experience with your kids? What are your strategies? Let me know. Looking forward to when he's a little older and would try new food.
* He likes to draw - I guess all kids like to draw. But I think he is pretty good at it too. I have stacks and stacks of paper with his drawings after already throwing some out. How do you manage your kids' drawings? Any suggestions and creative ideas are welcome.
* He loves God - It's a beautiful thing when you know your son genuinely loves God. He would even say, "Mom I love you. But I love God more". That works for me. I want to see him develop this personal relationship that he has with God outside of us, his parents. He once told us that he wants to be a pastor when he grows up - his dad says "Let's talk again when you're a teenager". I think that was funny. I love my Ethan and he makes me so proud and makes me feel blessed being his mommy.
Raising children, yours or not, is not easy especially in the current state of our society. People judge everyone all.the.time. People will judge you if you let your kids use a phone, people will judge you if you don't let them use the phone. People will judge you if you let your kids have a sleepover, people will judge you if you don't. People will judge you if you let your kids eat junk food, people will judge you if you don't. There's no way around it. We kind of, don't really care :)
For us, we value having a deep emotional and spiritual relationship with our kids. It's a relationship that is not based on their achievements, their gifts & talents, and those things that don't really matter in the end. It is having the assurance that we love them and that we've got their backs. As parents, we are not perfect by all means. We get frustrated & also distracted sometimes. We are still growing in this parenting thing. One thing for sure - we want to raise the Balty Boys in a way that they would always want to come home even when they don't have to.