Nate, in one million words or less…
Hello!
As I sit here with a blank sheet of paper ahead of me, I find it hard to determine where to start to describe my son, Nate.
Nate has always been one of the happiest kids I have ever met. He loves to have fun and enjoys friendly banter. This started as early as Kindergarten, where he enjoyed “arguing” with Mrs. Chaney over which team is better, Hawkeyes or Illini. Nate is a friend to everyone and is generally non-confrontational.
He enjoys playing soccer and has really loved playing on his travel soccer team for the last two years. Some of his best friendships have been forged in this team. Nate is a thinker, and on the soccer field he is always analyzing the game. Sometimes he even thinks a bit too much about the game – he is less likely to react instinctively and more likely to wait a half second to plan his moves.
Since a young age, Nate has enjoyed building and creating, especially with Legos. He has a huge collection of Lego models, mostly Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Last year Nate was part of the 5th grade FLL robotics team and he loved the whole experience. He has said that he would love to be an architect when he grows up, but more recently has been expressing an interest in engineering. Last summer he went to a week-long engineering day camp at St. Ambrose that involved “race car” design. He really enjoyed that as well; he was very proud of the race car he built and tested.
Nate is an avid reader. Like his mother, he devours books. Sometimes I find that he is reading multiple books at the same time – not literally (that would be really hard!) but he will switch between books and have several “in process.” It’s almost like he can’t read them fast enough, when he has so much he wants to read. It’s been so much fun lately as he is interested in and starting to read books that I have read and loved. He loves fantasy (Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, etc), and now is really excited to read The Hunger Games, Divergent, and the Maze Runner. I am always excited when a teacher has been able to turn him on to a new series or author.
Nate does best when he clearly understands the plan – he constantly is asking us “what are we doing next?” He needs to be “in the know,” and asks a lot of questions if he doesn’t feel he knows enough about what is going on. This can be frustrating for a “let’s go with the flow” parent like me, who doesn’t want to plan every minute of my day in advance…:)
A few other things about Nate: He loves food, and likes to think of ideas for recipes. He has studied comic book superheroes and often amazes me with his knowledge of obscure Marvel or DC characters. (Seriously...ask him sometime!). Like his mother, he can be stubborn and sometimes enjoys arguing a point just for the sake of the debate. (This may or may not drive his father crazy…) He works hard and always does his best. He has a good sense of right and wrong and always tries to do what he feels is the right thing.
