Kolby, A Good Young Man

I'm afraid that in recent months I've had to spend too much time working with Kolby on his time management skills & his school assignments, and I hope that he doesn't think that all I notice is his school assignments, chores, and the things he's still working to improve on.  

Kolby can also be one of the most helpful, hard working, dependable young men I know, and I really do appreciate it.  I try to be mindful and thank Kolby when he helps me out, but I may not tell him often enough how much his help means to me.  Thinking back over the last few years, Kolby has been such a big help to me.  Especially when I'm helping to organize a school event, I know I won't even have to ask Kolby to help clean up after the event, and to keep helping until the job is done.  And, in the few times when one of his brothers has had a pretty serious injury, I know I can count on Kolby.  As the mom of 5 active boys, usually blood doesn't phase me too much, but there have been a couple times -- when Eli had his bad bike accident and scraped up his face & broke his teeth, and when Camden burned his eye -- when I panicked a bit.  But Kolby has always been there, stepping up and asking me what I need him to do, and immediately taking care of the other kids so I could focus all my attention on taking care of the kid who got hurt.  And I never even had to worry about calling home from the emergency room to make sure that the kids were taken care of or that they didn't forget to eat dinner or something.  And I can always count on Kolby to help bring in the groceries.  He's a willing participant in family, service, & church activities. 

I think one sign that a boy is growing into a young man, and preparing for the most important roles in his life (being a husband & a father), is that he starts looking outside himself and helping others when they need it the most, without being asked to help.  I've enjoyed watching my kids start to grow up, watching what choices they make in the classes and interests they pursue, their choices of friends and social activities, and how they treat the people around them.  And I'm looking forward to watch Kolby as he continues to grow, as he goes through high school, goes on a mission, and eventually gets married and starts a family of his own.  I'm really proud of the good young man he is today.