Kolby reminds me of myself a lot, in that he has wanted to be grown up, responsible, and in charge from a young age. He was about 8 years old when he really started asking us if he could be a babysitter (and we finally started to consider allowing him to). We told him that most people wouldn't consider hiring an 8 year old to babysit for them, but if he was really interested he could take a babysitting course and then go from there. So he saved up his money and signed up for an online Red Cross babysitting course, and completed all the course work. At that point we very gradually started to let him watch his brothers for a few minutes at a time, when I had to run pick someone up from school or grab something from the store. He did great, and the timing slowly increased over the next few years, until we felt comfortable that Kolby could actually babysit. Eventually he learned how to cook dinner, and surprisingly he got his brothers (and himself) down to bed most times if we went out around bedtime. Our newfound freedom to go on a date together or attend a school meeting or an appointment without taking all 5 kids was amazing. And surprisingly Kolby has continued to be willing to babysit for us all these years -- he's been so willing to do it anytime he's available. Now that we've got a couple of teenagers in the house, and our youngest are 9, 10, and 11 (and will be 10, 11, and 12 before too many more months), we don't really need an official "babysitter" around here much anymore (except for the cousins some of the time), things are pretty easy in the babysitting department at our house. But I'm sure Kolby has no idea what a huge help it was to us during those earlier years, and how helpful it still is to us now that he's willing to help out whenever we do need it. As an oldest child myself, I know how much pressure can come with being the oldest, and the expectation to be a good example for the younger kids. But I'm grateful for the good example that Kolby is to his brothers.
I know that our lives have been made a lot easier as parents and our family's dynamics have been better because of Kolby's willingness to help out with things like babysitting or helping get his younger siblings to or from activities, the fact that he never complains about babysitting or acts like it's a hardship, the fact that he has practiced the piano for years and actually seems to enjoy it (I'm sure that if our oldest had hated the piano and battled us about practicing, the younger kids wouldn't have been as interested in doing it), the fact that he plays with his younger brothers and they actually have fun together, whether it be board games, card games, basketball, watching movies, hiking, swimming, etc. and that he doesn't give us a hard time about hanging out with the little kids, even though he's a teenager now. And the fact that he doesn't act embarrassed to be seen around his parents or like he's too cool for his family. His attitude is generally really beneficial for the environment around our home, and I know we probably don't show enough gratitude for how he has positively influenced our family. Love you, Kolby!
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