We're Related, but Definitely Different!

If I were to limit myself and point out what I think are Shane's three best traits, they'd be: Clever, compassionate, and creative.

Clever - Shane's a smart kid. He likes learning about animals (even bugs). And science (especially extreme weather). He's got a strong math brain and an excellent memory in general. 

Compassionate - Shane's incredibly tender-hearted. He's quick to hug and to smile. He's people focused and does an amazing job playing and being gentle with younger kids. Shane gets upset when people get hurt in TV shows and tries to fast-forward or run out of the room during embarrassing/cringe moments.

Creative - Shane's always thinking up something. He doesn't draw or write, but he's more than willing to dictate to someone! I don't know if it will be music, art, theater, or writing (probably not art), but when Shane finds a medium to record his thoughts it'll be a lot of fun to see what he comes up with.

I can point out more things, but I tried to stick with the top three. I'm thankful that God made me a father and that I got to have Shane as my son.

And like most parents I spend a lot of time thinking about my child, reflecting on my own childhood, and comparing the two.

There are a lot of ways Shane and I are alike. 

When Shane's interested in something, he's all in. He's super high energy, likes to climb, tries to tease Carrie even when he shouldn't, and farts constantly. 

There are a lot of ways he's different, too. 

Nana calls Shane her "Little Italian." He's the only one on my side of the family who doesn't fry in direct sunlight. Shane has a sharp ear for musical notes. He's a braver eater. And if you've ever met Shane in real life, you'd recognize he's 100% extrovert. He will talk to anyone, anywhere, at anytime and hates to be alone.

There are some newly developed/discovered ones as of late.

Shane's been picky in stores. If he has something he's looking for, that's what he wants. I took Shane to the comic book store, offered to buy him a couple of things just to be nice....and he said "There's nothing I want."

Free. I offered free gifts. I rarely do that, and Shane said, "Nah."

That's very different from me growing up. I could always find 1,000 things I wanted in any store we went. Nana said I was easy to shop for! If she said, "You can have _______ of something," I went right up to the limit (and sucked up if I went a little over). 

I force Shane to stay in the shop while we looked around. He eventually picked a single thing to focus on and wouldn't look for anything else.

Shane's got strong interests, so I feel like he's usually easy to shop for. He's been a little bit more negative lately, so maybe that's a sign the teenage years are starting?

But if someone offered Shane a new pet (even a fish) he's 100% there (He clearly gets it from Carrie). 

If it were up to me, we'd have a dog. That's it. 

We don't just have a dog. 

I bonded with Baby and Jazzy growing up, but we had other pets, too. They were cool for a while, but I never attached to them. There was the hamster that bit me, the birds that went crazy, and the mice that bred like mice. Most met unfortunate ends or were "set free." I don't think I spent much time worrying about it and moved on quickly. 

Meanwhile, Shane sometimes brings up past pets we've had. He asked about what happened to Min recently. He got sad when I told him the details and I showed him some old posts from the blog. Shane's asked about Lester, as well. I told Shane that Lester made his choice to move on from the barn (true) and left out the part where I thought he was probably coyote food.

And somehow, Shane even cares about his fish. He called me in to his room to show me a red spot on one guppy he'd noticed.

I'm glad Shane and Carrie can bond over the fish tank, because I lose interest in it fast (Which works out for me, because when things like the heater break and smoke it's up to them to deal with it!).

Shane's far less competitive and more tender-hearted than I was growing up. It shows with the fish, but also with how he reacts to shows. In Star Wars, he wondered aloud what happened to Storm Troopers who were shot or fell from a height. 

"Did they die?" Shane asked.

"Who cares!? The good guys are awesome and winning!" <Queue "Another One Bites the Dust>

I didn't really say that, but I know that's what Young Mike would've felt!

I wanted to be strong. I wanted to be a hero and kick butt. I remember looking through the Chuck Norris Martial Arts supply catalog in Beaumont. I thought belt knives were cool. So were the swords...the sais....and I wouldn't have said to nunchuks, either. Donatello used a staff, but I could find sticks in the yard. One year, Nana Jama made the mistake of buying my siblings and I bullwhips at the fair. We all went Indiana Jones and it's fortunate nobody was scarred for life. 

I could be timid with sports. I was middling at best. The one year I played soccer, I would've loved to have been a good offensive player and score points....but I stunk. I was relegated to defense. 

Shane, on the other hand, has no interest in being anything other than defense. He really wants to be a goalie to block shots and save the game with everyone watching.

Keep all that in mind as I go into this next: Marcell gave me a pellet rifle before he left to Thailand.

It's a .17 caliber that shoots metal bb's. It's one pump for one shot and it takes more strength than Shane has, so I felt fine accepting it from Marcell.

I've meant to take Shane outside to teach him some basic firearm safety and how to shoot. I didn't do it until the second set of snow days. A young me would've jumped at the chance. Shane balked and worried he'd hurt himself or something else. It took a little convincing to get him to try it. 

I wanted to make a small target shooting game like the ones at carnivals. I set up a carboard target in front of  a stack of pallets in the hay barn. The pellet gun was heavier for Shane than I thought it'd be, but I thought it'd be fun. 

I pulled out my phone to take a quick picture for the blog and Shane put the gun down.

He did NOT want a picture of him holding a weapon. He said he'd refuse to pick it up unless I put my phone away. Shane didn't anyone to see him with a gun (even a pellet one) much less to think he'd try to hurt anything.

Very different from young Mike. 

We're rural enough that a large portion of his school population comes from hunting families, and kids talk about it at school. I've never been, but I probably would have tried it if a group of friends offered growing up. Hunting is a non-starter for Shane (but maybe fishing is fine?).

We used the pellet rifle for 15 minutes at the most before Shane wanted to go inside. He's never asked about it again.

I don't view any of these differences as bad. They're interesting. Shane is half me genetically, so I can trace Shane's extroverted-ness straight from Jama to Nana to me and then him. Pop thinks he's got Nana's literal mindset, too.