My Collin

We got homework from Collin's 3rd grade teacher — can you believe that!! We had to write up a description of our son in a million words or less. Since my wife is a better writer, she tackled the job and here's the outcome . . .

In a million words or less
A million words isn’t enough to describe the wonders and complexities that are Collin.

I am so happy to have the opportunity to tell you about Collin. He is a treasure to our family. From the time Collin was a baby, he has been so even tempered. He would sit and play by himself for hours. His temperament remains the same now. He is not easily angered or flustered. He is generally quite “go with the flow.”

Collin is a hard worker, and has always expected a lot from himself. He caught his mom’s perfectionism, unfortunately. What he may lack in natural talent or skills he more than makes up for with his effort and determination. He is the child who jumps out of bed and makes the bed immediately. In pre-K and kindergarten, he did not test well because he would not answer a question rather than be wrong. He has gained more self-confidence since then. However, we continually work with him that trying his best is all that is needed, and mistakes are learning opportunities. Verbal affirmation seems to help build his confidence and fill his “love tank,” as well as one-on-one time.

We discovered long ago that Collin is a deep thinker. He will mull something over in his mind for quite a while. Once he finally verbalizes his thoughts, we realize how long and how deep he has considered it. He definitely tends to internalize things, and at times, we’ve joked about how we are raising an old soul. He looks beyond the surface of things and people.

I think the other main character trait about Collin that is noteworthy is that he is very caring and sensitive to others. His very nature is to seek out ways to help other people — seeing a need and wishing to meet it. He gets this from his dad. He will help out his sister with anything, even before I notice her needs. He loves to just serve other people — whether it is emptying out his piggy bank to help our friends we met from Hurricane Katrina or opening a door for his mom.

Collin is more reserved in nature, but very outgoing when he is comfortable with someone. He loves math and science, anything Star Wars, anything military, reading, building with legos, and learning new things. He has surprised us with how he has tackled things like snow skiing and other new experiences. He is a daddy’s boy and adores his father. From my limited understanding of learning styles, he seems much more manipulative than visual.

Obviously, we adore our son. He is just beyond description, but hopefully, I’ve somehow done him justice in this letter. Thanks for the opportunity to share him with you.