I fear that Jamie is more prone to “middle child syndrome” than many other second-of-three children might be; he’s quiet and introspective much of the time, which could lead to him being easily overlooked. I call him my thinker, and as a thinker, he’ll often spend time alone, contemplating God-knows-what, playing with his cars, trucks, planes, and trains, or reading a book. He doesn’t demand my attention in the same way Charles does, though he’s learning to do so a bit more (just this morning, he insisted on having a story while I was nursing Freddie), and he’s frequently railroaded in conversations that also include Charles. Hell, in a conversation with Charles, none of us can get a word in edgewise.
Planes are serious business. (This is not an unhappy face – it is a “studying” face.)
Smiling for the camera!
On Saturday, Charles was sick and did not get to accompany me, Jamie, Freddie, Uncle Leland, and Grandpa Roger to the Heritage Flight Museum “Props & Ponies” Mustang show. I’ve seen a lot of Ford Mustangs in my life, and I’ve seen a very few P-51 Mustangs on the ground, but never before have I seen a P-51 Mustang fly. There were three that flew during this event (as well as some other planes), and they were amazing. The sound of those three engines overhead was astounding; my heart was in my throat during each of the several fly-bys. I kept imagining how awesome it would have felt to see a whole squadron, or several squadrons, fly overhead.
As Leland puts it, Jamie will be the gearhead of my family. He loves machines and vehicles of all types and is never happier than when watching a race or a train or a plane. He would have stayed at the show until the bitter end, but I had been carrying Freddie on my front the entire afternoon (four hours!), it was hot, and my feet hurt. During the loooong walk back to the car, Jamie inhaled a giant rainbow sherbet waffle cone, so I’m guessing he wasn’t unaffected by the heat or the exhaustion of the afternoon.
Because of his patience with learning about machines, Jamie will probably enjoy a more productive relationship with my dad than Charles will – not that there won’t be plenty of love to go around, but Jamie will more than likely be happy to spend hours with Grandpa in the shop, working on machines.
Charles, on the other hand, is more likely to enjoy the action and excitement of being a deckhand for his Grandpa Joe or Tony when he gets older. When the boys were at the beach a week-and-a-half ago, Charles caught his first (and second, and third) salmon and talked of nothing else for nearly a week.
It’s part of my job, I think, to help my children grow and blossom in the ways that suit them. They’re still figuring out what they love, so we can use a shotgun approach to activities (air show, Sprint car races, roller skating, soccer, etc). Honestly, I didn’t think we would make it four hours at the Mustang show, but now I know that if we want to spend an entire day next summer at the Arlington Fly-In, Jamie will not only be just fine, he will be as happy as a pig in shit.
It’s not easy with an infant in the house, but I hope to do more of these “dates” with my kids individually. It’s so fulfilling to me to find something they love to do and do it with them.
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