The Wild ONE has a Heart of GOLD!

Matthew Taylor Lance, my second born, has long been our wild child. He is an uncontrolled body of energy and ideas. Those ideas are often spontaneous and impulsive. And well let's face it, even unsafe at times. He is ALL boy, messy, sneaky, DIRTY, danger seeking, manipulative, door holding, hug giving, snuggling, sweet smiling, WILD boy.

He is my child who can spend hours playing Jedi in the yard with his friends with my broom dented and bent, nail a hubcap to "his" (really his dad's) shed and call it a fort, go fishing in our yard and get all three, YES 3!, fishing rods hung in the trees, leave them there and just waiting to be discovered.  His ideas are unbelievable! He could talk his way out of anything and has the most unique thoughts that either make you giggle or cringe in disgust!  He is constantly in motion and often answers questions about his intentions or activities with the comment, "I don't know how that happened, honestly....." OR "One Second...."- which by the way is a sure sign of trouble.

He can also build entire Lego set (the big ones -like Hagrid's Hut, Star Wars Star Cruisers and the Hogwart's Express) in mere hours. He has read ALL the Harry Potter books, Percy Jackson books and as many Matt Christopher and Bailey School kids as I can find ALL on his own - many of them multiple times. So I know he can sit still and focus when he wants to......

His multi-faceted personality often frustrates me to no end and makes me question how we will survive parenting him.  BUT then there are the moments that remind me how sweet, loving, and pure his spirit is........

Three weeks ago, both my kids competed at the regional Odyssey of the Mind competition. Megan's team placed third and advanced to state. Another team at Matthew's school had advanced to state and was excited! They announced Matthew's team category and they placed FIRST! They went up and got their blue ribbons, waved them in the air and held them with pride.  Then they went to go sit with the final team from their school who was still waiting to hear results.

When the final team's category was announced, sadly, they did not advance. It is hard to watch young children deal with losing or defeat even when you know it is necessary. Anyway, one of Matthew's buddies was on the team that did not advance. His friend was VERY upset, and I watched Matthew hug him, pat his back and try to console him.

The teacher in charge of the other team was Matthew's third grade teacher and came over with tears in her eyes. She smiled really BIG and said, "When Matthew frustrates you or is in trouble at home, REMEMBER - His heart is so BIG and is made of pure gold!" I inquired as to what had happened- she went on to tell me that Matthew was so concerned with comforting his friend that he had GIVEN him his BLUE ribbon to make him feel better.

That's right- after working with his team for 6 months and enduring a LONG day of competition. Matthew had GIVEN UP his prized reward, because he cared more for the friend than the ribbon. He let that heart of gold shine!

In two days, my baby boy will be 10 years old. He has been blessing our world with that heart of gold for ten years. Happy Birthday sweet Matthew! We love you!