To Be or Not to Be...

To be like our parents or not to be like our parents, that is the question.  I'm sure many of us have said or done something, that has made us think, "I sound just like my mom/dad!"  More often than not, growing up we all thought there is no way I will do that when I get older.  But as fate would have it, we usually end up with many qualities that resemble those who raised us.  I would like to think that all of my children have at least a few of my admirable qualities.  I would like to hope that they have not and will not pick up many of my less desirable ones.  But if I had to choose one child that reflects a similar character to my own, it would have to be Brennan.  Now, others may disagree and think we are not alike at all.  Or for that matter someone may even believe that another of my children resembles my character far better than Brennan.  Also, Brennan may resent this statement of mine or he may be thrilled. I do not know.  The point being, this is me making the comparison and I know who I am around others and alone.   Anyway, my hope in this post is to shine a little light on Brennan.

Brennan is our 3rd child who will be turning 7 years old this August.  He is an old soul.  I say this because he is a deep thinker.  There will be times when he says something that lets you know his little mind has been working and thinking.  The other day we were riding in the car and a song came on that I just absolutely love.  The song is I'll Keep On by NF and the chorus goes, "Oh these hands are tired, Oh this heart is tired, Oh this soul is tired, But I'll keep on, I'll keep on, I'll keep on." After the song was over Brennan says, "Mom this song just makes me feel close to God!"  And honestly, that is how I feel after I hear that song every time.  Here I am driving along, praising God, not really even sure if my kids are getting what this song is saying and then Brennan says this.  An old soul...  He was telling me about a friend of his sharing that his father is in jail and he said, "I asked him, are you sure you want to be telling me this?" He knows how we have stressed the importance of one's story and that it is not something to be taken lightly or to be nosy about.  An old soul...  It also seems to me that Brennan seeks out older people.  When my Grandma Spelbring was alive Brennan would be the one to sit next to her and chat.  In this area he and I are very much alike.  I love talking to older people.  I love hearing their stories.  I drink in their wisdom. An old soul...

Yet, with all this Brennan is also great with little ones.  He is still at that age where he truly loves to play.  His imagination still runs wild and free!  To play with little babes is not work for him.  Often we will find Brennan playing bunnies with Lige and Juwan.  He is really a good big brother when he wants to be.  We also have a new little foster baby (more about that later) who he loves to help watch and play with.

As with all my children, Brennan is not a perfect little cherub who flits around the world filling it only with ooey, gooey sweetness.  To pretend that any of my children only have good qualities would not do justice to them.  They would remain flat, unrealistic, uninteresting characters in an ooey, gooey, super sweet children's story.  Brennan is passionate like me.  His sense of fairness and injustice in the world sometimes comes across in very passionate ways.  The way he handles conflict is not quietly to say the least.  He resembles me in this way.  We both can come across as being angry, when in reality we are just being passionate about something.  Actually, I have seen this quality in most of my children.

Brennan with all of his similarities to me, has one very distinct quality or should I say talent that definitely differs from me completely.  He is a great builder.  LEGOs were created for a soul such as he.  He and his brother Samuel can come up with some really cool creations.  Ones that move and transform and catapult things.  They amaze me how they can do this all from their own little minds.  Brennan will often go back and rebuild past LEGO creations using different parts if he can't find the originals.  I can barely make a LEGO car that actually moves.

In a nut shell that is my Brenny.  Like I said I hoped to shine a little light on this little boy of mine.  And that is what I feel like I have done.  I've only shined a little light on this old soul, a little light that  only reveals a small part of what an amazing little boy he is.  To be like me or not to be like me, this is not the question.   If he resembles me in character a little bit well, great.  But more importantly I would be proud to reflect and resemble Brennan's character!