A. His Schedule – He wakes up at about 7 a.m. ready to watch YouTube videos, and goes to bed at about 9 p.m. His school day starts at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m. He has in-person school two days a week, and virtual school two and a half days a week.
B. His Size – He's wearing size 7 clothes and size 1.5 shoes. His feet are unfortunately wide so he has a hard time finding comfortable shoes. He uses Crocs on most days.
C. His Personality – He's somewhat of a difficult kid to parent. He likes very few things... He doesn't like going for walks, playing soccer or other physical activities. He doesn't like most art projects. He doesn't like most foods, including all meat except bacon, all vegetables except carrots, etc.
D. His Favorite Things
- Colors: Blue.
- Shows and Movies: He likes YouTube shows about video games like Minecraft and Roblox. He also likes Japanese animated shoes like Pokemon and Guku.
- Books: Books about the Loch Ness monster and Norse mythology.
- Toys and Play: He hasn't played much with toys since he got his laptop. He plays Minecraft on both his laptop and the Xbox.
- Art: He will create with beads, but most art projects including drawing just make him frustrated.
- Activities: He is sort of a couch potato. He is willing to try to help entertain his younger siblings, a plus.
- Time of Day: He's not a night owl. I'd say his favorite time of day is probably the mornings, or any time of day when candy is involved.
- Bedding: He has a dark blue fleece blanket with stars on it that he likes. Unfortunately, his pet rabbit tends to chew holes in his stuff!
- Foods: He eats a grilled cheese sandwich on raisin bread almost every day, sometimes twice a day.
- Animals: He likes animals, particularly our pets. He used to like sharks too.
- Heroes: Perhaps Batman.
E. Things He Does Not Like – When he needs quiet time but doesn't get it.
F. What He’s Thinking About – He seems to spend a lot of time thinking about superpowers.
G. Surprises – I'm surprised that even things he used to like, he seems to no longer like. From cherry tomatoes to creating art.
H. Best & Worst Things –
- The best things(s): He still seems to care what my spouse and I think, a plus.
- The worst thing(s): When he "freaks out," like about school assignments, or us wanting to go on a family walk, or us wanting him to wear clothing that is appropriate for the cold weather, or me asking him to pick up after himself.
I. Family and Friends – It's been a year since Covid broke out. We've seen far fewer friends than usual. Honestly, I don't think he's minded. He's kind of a shy kid. Even when his brother is playing with children in our neighborhood, he usually doesn't want to join in.
J. Parenting or What I’m Doing Differently – He's my first kid so I'd say my parenting of him is sort of a mess of trial by error. I honestly don't know what to do other than to listen to him and to try to do things fairly.