Mr. Popular
So lately my son Jacob has become a little social butterfly. He is in first grade this year, and he really enjoys playing with his friends. He has some neighbor/ward friends that he likes to play with and there are two boys from his primary class, Joseph and Nathan, that he plays with regularly. When I say regularly I mean they want to play every day and they will show up at our house all the time wanting to play. They even call and want to come over on Saturdays. That would be enough you'd think. But not for Jacob. Now he has started playing with other kids from his class who he will call on the phone and arrange to play with after school. Now these kids aren't down the street, so I actually have to drive him to their house or they will be dropped off at our house. There are three boys from his class that he started playing with, and whenever he goes to these boys houses, Joseph and Nathan will call or come by and want Jacob to play. When I tell them he's playing with so and so, they are very disappointed. Joseph and Nathan also play together, but they like having Jacob there too. And the 3 of them get along pretty well together. So these other boys from class, it's funny because Jacob will come home from school with this new friend's phone number, and he'll say I'm playing with Quinn today, or McCade, or Matthew, or whoever he talked to at school about playing that day. The list is growing larger all the time. And when my phone rings after school, I know it's not for me, it's for Jacob! These boys just crack me up on the phone. They will call and if we don't pick up they'll either leave a message or keep calling until Jacob calls them back. So my phone has been overrun by 6 year olds.
Another thing Jacob did the other day which I thought was kind of cute was when it was his friend Quinn's birthday, he decided to make him a birthday card. He wrote it himself and drew a picture and everything. And then he put some candy inside. He even put a dollar in the card. I asked him if he was sure he wanted to give a dollar to him because after all, it is one week's allowance. He assured me he did. The next day was his friend Cameron's birthday and he made a card for him, dollar bill and all. Now all the kids in Jacob's class want him to make them a card with candy and money in it. He told me he wasn't giving one to everyone, just his friends. But at this point, I think that's most of the boys in his class. There is one girl that he sits next to that he said he will make a card for on her birthday.
So I just had to share this new personality I'm seeing in Jacob. It's fun to watch them change and mature socially. I've been letting him play with these friends after school, but he still has to do his chores, which he tries to get done in the mornings before school. And of course his homework is first before the friends.