What will he be like?

I have been teaching a lot lately.  With that, my mind has been wandering to the future and I wonder, what will Rusty be like?  What kind of student will he be in a classroom?  Will he have a joy for learning?  Will he be the kid that the teacher has to send back to his seat a million times a day?  Will he be on top of homework or will I be constantly reminding him?

Last night we were visiting friends who have a son close in age to Rusty.  We were talking about learning and such.  Lately Rusty has been into the alphabet, and he very adorably thinks that every letter is "OOOoooooOOO."  Either that or he tries "Puh, puh, puh," or "Duh, duh, duh."  Sometimes we hear "Ssssss."  It's so cute.  Whenever I read him his ABC book we start by saying the sound the letter makes.  I don't really care if he gets them right or not, it's just so cute to see him try.  I was laughing with my friend about how, when Rusty is in the bathtub, he will pick up his foam letters and numbers and say "Oooo" or "Puh, Puh Puh" regardless of which letter or number it is.  She remarked,

"I'm sure since you guys are both teachers Rusty will be learning these things really well and early on."  It was interesting to hear that.  It is interesting the assumptions that we make about other people.  I appreciate that she thinks that since we are teachers we will naturally use our teaching skills to give our son an advance in his learning.  I don't really think this is the case.  I like to think that Rusty can learn at his own pace.  I love to be involved in his learning and I love to watch him understand new things, but I'm not pushing him into being a genius child or anything.

Things that I do hope for him? 

• I hope that Rusty enjoys learning.  I hope that we can find ways, or his teachers will find ways, to engage him in his learning!  I don't want information to simply be thrown at him.  I want him to explore, to discover, to be interested.  
• I hope that Rusty can discover the joy that comes from reading a book.  Right now he LOVES his books.  For awhile he liked to just flip the pages as fast as he could, but lately he sits on our laps and listens and when to book is done asks us to read it again and again.  I don't know how to keep that love for reading going.  I think I will try to find out what he is interested in as he grows older and find things for him to read that relate to those interests.  I don't want to force novels on him, I want it to keep being something that is a joy and a relaxation, not a must.  
• I hope that Rusty is involved.  Involved in his classroom, involved in activities, involved in his learning.  I hope that he can take joy from participating in activities, whether it is hockey-as it seems to be now- or playing the piano, learning chess, running, or any other number of things.  I'm not someone that says my son WILL do this or that...rather I hope that he finds things that he loves and gets involved in them.
• I pray that Rusty is respectful.  I do know that much of this responsibility lies upon our shoulders.  We can model respect in our home and treat him with respect, expecting the same in return.  We can praise him when he shows that respect, yet when he is away from us, it is up to him.  I know that it is possible. I see it in students that I teach all of the time.  It is an intrinsic motivation, it comes from somewhere deep within.  It is not respect because their teacher is promising them a party or threatening to keep them in from recess, rather it is a respect that is born from within, from simply wanting to honor their elders.  I pray that Rusty has that.
• I hope that Rusty has fun.  I think that a kid should have fun.  I don't necessarily think that fun always trumps everything else, but when Rusty looks back on his childhood, his learning and other aspects of his life, I hope that he can say that it was fun.  Rusty has the greatest smile, and when he has joy in his life and is having fun, that smile is working full force.  It is pure love in action.

I wonder, what will my little boy be like?  I look forward to finding out!