Seth at Twelve

Sometime in the past year you've gone from being a big kid to being a young man. Part of it is your size: you now weigh more than me and are taller than some of your friends' moms and older sisters. You tower over all your peers. But it's more than that. It's hard to define exactly, but it's there. And I think it's going to be a lot of fun.

You have been such a tremendous help lately. You almost always will cheerfully do whatever I ask you to do, from helping load things into the van to reading scriptures to Aaron & Elise at bedtime. But you are the very best with Elijah. You are always willing to take him when I need to cook or clean. You love taking him outside or wrestling with him on the couch. My life would be SO much harder without you around.

Dressing Elijah in your pajamas.

You are still our social guy. You make friends with everyone. Age & gender seem to be no boundary. It's a real gift and one that is going to serve you well in the future. 

You have been blessed with a really great group of friends. I pray that you'll be able to maintain those friendships through the next few years--having solid friends is a HUGE support when you're in the middle of the rough teenage years. 

The best kind of friends are those who'll read books with you.

You still spend all free time on Roblox. Playing some, but mostly scripting and designing your own games. Every day you're researching something new, tweaking your game, debugging, or starting something entirely new. I have a hard time with all the screen use, but I keep reminding myself that these kinds of skills will be a huge benefit to you in the future. We just get to have the 'balance' talk on a monthly basis. 😏

You are highly observant and catch onto subtleties that I don't always expect you to. Even when I think you're not listening, you are. And asking questions. You read a lot of Dilbert, so we get a lot of questions like "What's an 'ethical violation'?"

You shower religiously every evening. I think I have the influence of Emma Knox to thank for that one. 

You are still quite obnoxious and pester-y when you feel like it. It's the worst when you get Catherine going too. And Aaron--Aaron basically worships you. He won't even choose his dessert until he knows which one you've picked. But you still love to pester him because he gets SO ANGRY and you find it hilarious. 

Recently I had an odd experience that I feel like is kind of defining our relationship right now. I dropped you off at the Knoxes for your writing class. No big deal. We do this every Tuesday and I would be back over in less than an hour. But as you waved and walked away, a thought hit me: "Your future with Seth is just going to be more and more goodbyes." And it's true. I can already feel you shifting a little bit, pulling off into a more independent world. And it's exactly what you're supposed to be doing and it's what I want you to do. But it still hurts a little bit. These are going to be bittersweet years, but I'm very much looking forward to what they're going to bring. Happy 12th, Seth Man.

Seth's 12 Year Old Interview:

1. What's your favorite color?

    "Uhh...pink. Because I like pink."

2. What is your favorite food?

    "Pasta Roni."

3. Who is your best friend?

    "Gabe. And Jack."

4. What's your favorite movie?

    "Black Panther."

    

    What's your favorite show?

    "Avatar."

5. What's your favorite thing to do for fun?

    "Studio. Roblox Studio."

6. What's your favorite (non-electronic)game to play?

    "Umm...(long pause)...pester Aaron. Uh...blocks (plastic blocks in the basement)."

7. What's your favorite game to play on electronics?

    "Roblox."

8. What's your favorite snack?
    "Marshmallows. Actually, no. Graham crackers with milk."

9. What's your favorite animal?
    "A computer. Hee, hee, hee! Um...What's it called again? I can't remember what they were called but they're super cool. Whatever. It's a monster from D&D."

10. What do you want to be when you grow up?
    "Coder. For myself or other people. Coding games."

11. What's your favorite song?
    "Depends. Probably Darkside."

12. What's your favorite book?
    "Dilbert."

13. What's your favorite thing to learn about?

    "Coding."

When I asked for any last commentary:

"My name is Bob, what's yours? I like D&D. Mom doesn't like having her feet tickled."