Sheriff Behnke

Written in 2013

Owen is our oldest son. He is almost ten.

He is a lot like me except pushier. He is our sheriff of the house. Never letting anyone off the hook about anything that is or isn't important. He loves technology and is into making stop motion movies with legos. He has a hard time playing with un-organized toys by himself. He observes a lot and is always listening in on other people's conversations. He is learning how to not roll over other people's words and practicing self control when faced with what he believes is injustice! He is super smart and hasn't learned that his brain is quite capable of doing huge things.

I tell him all the time he is smart and I expect him to use his brain. He has an amazingly contagious laugh and comes up with random goofiness that makes me chuckle. I think he has good vibrato and can eventually learn to sing well. He had a Great Grandma that sang on the radio once. Maybe he inherited a singing voice.

He is growing into a responsible young man. Never seems like he's growing fast enough in that area, but he will arrive eventually. Owen loves his little sister and plays with her on the floor wrestling around. He is good with Sawyer too, the boys get in fights but what brothers don't? He can play well with Maggie, and we are teaching the two of them to work together even when they don't care for each others company. He hums when he is content and he loves his yorkie, Winston.

Being asked to do chores without complaint is starting to become reality. We went through a time of tearing down selfish and lazy attitudes. We are coming out the other side now and it seems to have helped mold him into a better worker.

Going through dark weeks of training and refinement with kids is a tough job for both parent and child. It happens about every six months with my kids, each taking turns with emotional growth spurts. I'm certain I'm missing a lot and warping them all in many ways.
I can only pray and hope they are forgiving enough to overlook my faults, and wise enough to adopt the good that they're taught. And Lord have mercy on us all, if Owen ever decides Law Enforcement is his bag of chips when he's grown!