Be Brave

Last night I was helping Mason with a school project. He is Star of the Week in his class next week so we had to make an “All about Me” poster and fill out a questionnaire of some of his favorite things. We got to the question of What's your favorite sport? He said “WWE is a sport, right?” Then he went on to write “football”. I told him both were sports and that he is really smart about football. A few questions down it asked Who do you admire most? I thought I had it figured out, but he didn't say anything, he just wrote “Papa Steve” and I asked him why he chose him, and he said “cause he makes sure everyone is safe, like when I drove the golf cart on the wrong side of the road” and I said “Okay, I thought you'd say something else, but that's fine.” He erased it and simply put “Grandpa”. AND THEN, (here comes the point of my story) He said “well, I had a different one but it sounds dumb”. I promised I wouldn't think it was dumb if he told me and he said “John Cena...but everyone will laugh at that”. Then he went on to tell me about kids noticing and commenting (neither good, nor bad) when he wears a John Cena shirt and he didn't like everyone talking about his shirt, so he just wanted to put Grandpa because that's what everyone else did and they won't laugh at that. Now, I'm not saying that John Cena should be admired more than Papa Steve or any Grandpa, but changing your mind for the sake of keeping your classmates happy made me sad and bothered.

I don't want my kid (or any kid) to surrender to normal, when the normal is boring. To be plain and do/say what everyone else does/says just to avoid ruffling a few feathers. I want them to be bold and be brave even if it goes against the norm. I want them to admire whomever they wish, and wear whatever they find fitting. And I want to teach them that's it okay for others to do the same. But he's 8, so I let him keep him answers and told him someday you'll realize that it's better to say what you mean and be yourself rather than trying to be like everybody else.

I'm sure a time will come where John Cena will not be the ruler of his universe, but after our chat, if someone comments negatively about his shirt, he will tell them “That's okay if you don't like it but I do”.

 

Mason turns 8

We celebrated Mason's birthday last weekend.  It's hard to believe 8 years have gone by so quickly.  Mason is in 2nd grade and enjoys: 

• WWE wrestling 
• Playing video games
• Snowmobile racing
• Roller blading
• Bike riding
• Watching & playing football
• Shows on tv: Kickin' It, Austin & Ally, WWE, Crash & Bernstein, Lab Rats
• Swimming
• Bowling
• Wrestling mom and dad on the living room floor
• Board games (trouble, twister & family feud)
• Watching movies
• Sleeping in

 

His favorite place to eat is: Buffalo Wild Wings or Texas Roadhouse

His favorite foods are: Pizza, chicken nuggets and ribs

His favorite home-cooked meal: fresh caught fish the way I cook it with my potatoes :)

His favorite drink: Dr. Pepper

His favorite color: Red

 

His least favorite things are: going to school and going to bed.  Such is life!

 

Of all the things for his birthday (Air Maxx, Pizza Ranch, gifts), the first (and only self-induced) thanks he gave me was for making him that cake.  The bakery actually made the base and it was just plain black and white (they couldn't do WWE because it's a trademark). I have no issues breaking the law when decorating a cake ;) so I did the ropes, guys (John Cena and Brock Lesnar) and the W.  He loved it!

The cousins that were old enough to come with: Skyeler, Owen, Mason, Ava, Madi, Sophia, and Braelyn

Fishing and Snocross Racing

 

It's been a crazy fun last few weeks! I only had to work 4 of the last 16 days... It was super awesome and I love that my daycare parents had flexible schedules over the holidays to allow me extra time off too.  We spent Christmas with our families and then headed to Red Lake to do some fishing for a few days.  The fishing was rather slow, and I got quite bored.  I think I ate all the food we brought the first night, because when I'm bored, I eat.  We watched movies, the boys played PlayStation, and I played Nintendo DS to pass some time.  Next time I'll know better, and pack a book or two, some magazines and word finds.  There was no service for our phones so that thing was basically useless.  The kids were actually really well behaved and didn't seem as bothered as I was about the lack of fish!  Me and Brae rode home with Shane's parents and Mason and Shane stayed another night (and moved the fish house).  Of course they found an awesome hot spot after I left! :) Ha!

 

On New Year's Day we took Mason to ERX race park in Elk River, MN to give snowmobile racing a try.  Shane went to Speedwerx and got a clutch kit for it, DJ bought him some goggles and racing gloves, we dug out some hand-me-down safety gear and off we went.  We were all pretty pumped to watch him and Mason was excited too!  He says he wasn't nervous, but I could sense he was a little anxious before his race started.  He took the lead on the first corner and never looked back... well except when the flag man forgot to give him the white flag and he knew it should've came out!  Shane said he was more proud watching Mason's win than he has ever been of any of his own wins. I asked "Even Mod Nationals?" and he said "I've never wanted to cry like a baby over any of MY wins."  That's how cool it was!  He went on to win both rounds of his group (Beginner 120 age 4-12), which gave him the first place trophy!  He was so excited and can't wait to do it again.