J-Fest 2011: Decisions He Made

We're celebrating Junius all week as he turns 6!

Again, that's six years old, people. Crazy stuff -- and it means he can do all sorts of cool things that he couldn't do when he was a preschooler, including making more of his own decisions.

Sometimes that's hard for me to let go of, but it's also fun to watch him figure out what matters. And it's interesting to see when he has strong opinions about something that I wouldn't have predicted.

Here are five decisions he started making on his own over the past year:

1. Getting dressed: If left to his own devices, Junius would wear all red most days -- as in, red basketball shorts and a red hockey t-shirt. For variety, he'd add his blue/yellow basketball jersey. This makes me crazy, so we came up with a deal. On Monday through Thursday, he has to wear a collared shirt to school (although most days I let him pick which one) and on Fridays he can pick what he wants. It's not always fashionable, but it mattered to him.
2. Making breakfast: Because Junius wakes up like an alarm clock stuck on 6 a.m., my husband had the great idea of teaching him to make his own breakfast. Now he picks out his cereal, toast or English muffin (most days) and gets himself fed before school.
3. Riding the bus: Although it made us a little a jittery to imagine our little kindergartner on the bus with 5th graders, Junius really wanted to ride the bus home from school each day. Thankfully, our 3rd-grade friend was also on the bus, so we said yes. I have no idea why he liked riding the bus, but he did -- and it was nice that Pippi and I didn't have to sit in carpool during what used to be her naptime.
4. Playing hockey: As native North Carolinians, my husband and I were probably most likely to encourage Junius to play basketball or soccer or swim team. But the kid loves hockey, so he's decided to learn how to skate this summer so that he can start learning to play hockey in the fall. We're bracing for cold days sitting in the stands, but we'll be there to cheer his choice.
5. Halloween costume: Last Halloween was the first year Junius decided on his costume entirely on his own. And interestingly enough, he ended up choosing two -- Batman and Spiderman. Guess my days of suiting him up in adorable animal costumes are long over.

In some ways these seem like small decisions, but it's a step. A little bit of control over his own young life. And before we know it, he'll be deciding on summer jobs and college tours and all sorts of big fat hairy deals -- hopefully getting in some practice early will help in the long run.