Trickling Sand

My boy, Athan or Hei Hei as we lovingly call him, is now officially a teenager! Wow, how time has flown by! He’s going to be in Grade 8 this September and we’re all very proud of him. God has blessed him with many graces and I’d like to share some of them with you today (such that he will be thoroughly embarrassed)!

A Bit of a Rough Start

We weren’t always very sure of how Athan will fare in life. When he was 3 years old, he attended a Montessori before he was old enough to attend Guiding Light. On some days, when I dropped him off to school, he would all of a sudden turn into jello at the doorsteps of the school. His legs would become weak and not be able to stand at all. The teacher would take him and he would start crying. That worried me a bit, but I brushed it off as him needing some time to adjust to a new environment. Then, a few months into the school year, we received a letter from the school, telling us how he was not paying attention and would not keep his hands to himself. That worried us more. We did notice, during pick up time, that there were some boys who played fairly roughly with him. So, we understood that that may have been the reason for the 2 things I mentioned above.

Fortunately, he didn’t stay at the Montessori for long and went to Guiding Light Academy. There, he did fairly well and learned how to read proficiently by senior kindergarten. We saw his eyes light up as he found this new skill, which opened up a new world to him. I remember his teacher told us that she wanted to cry when she saw how he loved reading so much. When he graduated kindergarten, he received the All Round Performance award and we were absolutely floored. We didn’t know he was doing so well in school. This is a lesson I have learned over and over again with my kids: never underestimate them!

Growing into A Faithful Young Man

He continued to do well in school and we started spending more effort in his extracurricular activities. After spending a couple of years in piano and Karate, we decided that forcing him to do something that he didn’t enjoy was going to be an uphill battle that no one really wanted to fight. In the end, we gave up hopes of having the next Lang Lang in the family (just kidding…that was never in our hopes LOL!).

In the past couple of years, he has found a few things that he enjoyed. First, he has grown to be quite good in chess. At one point, he would play for an hour or more everyday on chess.com. Renee signed him up for a chess club and he’s been playing at some tournaments since. His interest has waned a bit to give way to his newfound hobby: fishing! He has always had some interest in it, but this summer, he’s really gotten into it quite seriously. I think I might just have to buy a fishing license for myself so I can go fishing with him. That wouldn’t be such a bad hobby for me to pick up so I can spend some time with him, and you know what fishing also requires? Getting up early!

Speaking of which, he is often the first to get up in the morning. If for some reason he sleeps in on a day that he wanted to get up early, he would be very grumpy. It’s quite hilarious…but on a more serious note, that is something I quite admire in him.

What I am truly grateful for in Hei Hei is his faithfulness in God. We have a small statue of Mary on the first floor just below our stairs. Each morning, after he gets up, he would walk down the stairs and without any prompting, he would stand in a completely straight posture and say a prayer to Our Lady. Meanwhile, I would stroll downstairs half asleep and just start my day off with the idea of praying somewhere in the 5th or 6th on my list of things to do.

As I write this, it seems to me that I have learned another lesson. That is, I will most likely end up learning more from my kids than they would from me. I’m often humbled at how intelligent the kids are at their age, especially when compared to me at the same age. There is a funny tradition in the Wong family when the elders lovingly call their children/nieces/nephews “蠢” or “stupid”. In fact, my Aunt Grace calls me by the nickname of “蠢”! LOL! I have continued that tradition and would call the kids “蠢” from time to time, as well. (Trust me, I’m not a mentally abusive father!! 🤣) It’s just a weird way for us to show our affection. But in all seriousness, I’m so proud of what Athan and the other kids have achieved at their age and I certainly hope they will achieve greater things than their parents have. Andy Stanley, a Christian pastor, once said, “Your greatest accomplishment may not be something you do but someone you raise.” I certainly aspire to that!

Hei Hei, as you step into your teenage years, may God continue to shower his blessings and graces upon you. You have grown to be someone your parents and siblings admire and appreciate. Keep praying, playing, smiling and being the fun guy that you are! We will always love you and support you!