The Cowboy is 7 Today
How do you go from this…
To this…
I don’t know, but it happened! The Cowboy turned 7 years old today. Sometimes in the middle of life you don’t feel like anything has changed…anything is changing. Then you look back and realize that you don’t know where the time went!
Our Cowboy is strong-willed.
He is passionate when he’s right.
And when he thinks he’s right.
And when he’s wrong.
He is a justice-seeker.
He is a lover and a fighter.
He is a Believer, and a believer…in God, and cowboys, and boots, and tree forts, and soldiers, and tractors, and places where real Buffalo live, and being your own person.
He’s an encourager.
When we make hamburgers for dinner he tells me “You ROCK, Momma! You ROCK! You’re the best cook-er ever!”
He’s a bit dramatic.
When I hurt his feelings he tells me “You’ve just killed me. You’ve broken my heart into a million pieces. It is shattered. I don’t have a heart anymore, I’m just going to die.”
He is never easy.
When he misses dinner for a temper-tantrum he tells me “You don’t love me anymore, you’re just an Ethiopian dictator starving your subjects!” (Apply Nat Geo Wild to intelligent children with caution!)
He is competent in things most 7 year olds never try.
He is unafraid of life, or death, or the dirt the comes in between.
He is the second child and the oldest son. The younger brother and the older brother.
He is some of the good in us, and some of the bad.
He is himself and he is his own.
And he is ours.
Happy Birthday Cowboy! We are thankful that God gave us YOU!
I love you like a momma cheetah who would take on a pride of lions without a care to herself…beyond words, deep in the marrow of my bones, in the places where I am only dust from the Garden…forever unchanging like the stars above your head…
What a sweet post 🙂 He sounds like a handful, but can you picture him when he’s channeling all that energy for God?! Watch out world!!
Yes, my momma-heart flutters thinking of all the good he can do when he grows up…once we teach him how to direct himself. 🙂 That’s what we do, right? Teach, and train, and shape.
Beautiful!!!
Thank you.
My son sounds so similar. He is so strong in every way and has limitless energy and is immovable when he thinks he is right. He remembers everything and passionately hates falsehood. He is 8 and the oldest of my four. I’ve been struggling so much with him and he challenges us more the older he gets and I’m at my wits end. Do you have any tips on parenting you could share?
I’m certainly no expert and am down in the trenches with you! But two things that have helped us were first, find ways to challenge him. Whether it’s sports, work, physical adventures like camping or rock climbing, reading, whatever you can direct him to that keeps him challenged and growing–ability AND character–and second, learn his love language. (I’ve got an old post about The 5 Love Languages here: http://www.walkinginhighcotton.net/2010/05/the-5-love-languages/ but I think this topic deserves an update!) That way you can break out of conflict cycles by communicating LOVE to him, and then redirect the situation. For my Cowboy, it’s physical touch. So when we’re really butting heads, I’ll stop and say “Hey, give me a hug!” The hug is really for him, but it creates a relationship reset for us. For my Speedracer it’s quality time, so I’ll say “Hey, let’s just take a break and throw the football for a minute.” Or even, “let’s just take a break and watch a show for a few minutes” and we’ll snuggle on the couch together for a few minutes. Feel free to email me if you’d like to chat more!