Drew

Before you get all crazy, they will all get equal time. But there are 4 of them. I only have so much time...

Drew is growing into a young man. One month shy of 10, it is interesting to talk with him.

Last week he asked for a comic book for his birthday. He didn't know the title but it wasn't a real comic book. It was like you find in the newspaper. I knew what he was talking about and thought he'd like Calvin and Hobbes. So, I told him that he wouldn't have to wait and pointed him toward our extensive collection. It was EXACTLY what he wanted. Score cool points for Mom for hanging onto 20 year old books.

He began sampling our albums. (Does anyone use that word anymore?) If it were vinyl, he would have worn out Queen by now. But his favorite is the mix that Emily compiled for him for Christmas. He hasn't satisfied his quest yet but I'll keep sticking a "new" CD in his room every week.

He spends much of his free time playing World of Warcraft. I was against this "T" for teen game but it doesn't seem graphically violent, from what I've seen. I don't play. He's learning about science - plants and their healing abilities and metals and their strength (think armor). He's learning different professions as well - tailor, blacksmith, herbalist. He's also proving to have a knack for economics. He glances at the auction house and readily identifies items that are severely overpriced and those that are a bargain. He then purchases the deals and immediately re-lists them and turns a profit. (At least that is my understanding from Drew and Dad.) I wonder if the other players know that he's 9?

His baseball abilities have really improved since last year. Unfortunately, the season is getting off to a slow starts. The first 2 games were rained out and the 4th lasted almost one inning before the skies opened yet again, but not before he was hit by a pitch. It appears that he is the starting second baseman. I hear that he turned a nice double play on Monday. I missed it because the game didn't start until 7:45, too late for the other 3 kids.

It's really cool when they choose your interests as their interests.

Drew is nothing if not informative. He recently explained knee replacement to his younger sister. When she questioned whether it hurt when Grandma got a new knee he explained what anesthesiologists do and that they have a new machine that monitors how awake or asleep a patient is. Whatever it measures (and he knew) should optimally be at 40. I've learned never to be surprised by his range of trivia but I still felt the need to ask how he knew this. Well, a friend has a father who is an anesthesiologist and he saw the machine on the Science Channel.

Drew wants to be homeschooled next year. He dislikes the lack of down time at school. 15 minutes for lunch. 15 minutes for recess. That's it and he's gone for 8 hours every day, 7 of them at school. He also hates the bus. I guess I'm glad that he has no real complaints about the academics. I'm all for homeschooling but I wonder if I can ever teach him any science or history that is new to him. Perhaps I'll just get good at pointing him in the right direction to ensure that the gaps get filled. He seems to self-educate pretty well to this point. I'm sure that he'll educate me more than I'll teach him.