Koen and his board

This is a picture of Koen with his new skateboard. He is so excited.

If you know Koen then you know he is a bit like myself. He is very shy and stubborn. Sometimes I just have to laugh at how he acts because I understand it and I don't think others do. He had his yearly check up today. He has a new doctor so they wanted to make sure he was at the appropriate levels socially, mentally, and physically. Whenever the doctor or nurse talked to him he would just sit there with no response. I thought it was hilarious. They asked him what grade he would be in next year. He was silent. So I ask him and he squeaks out a "first". She asks him to draw a picture of a person and he just slowly takes the pen and clicks it shut and then back open and then sits there smiling. I ask him to draw a person and he draws a little stick figure. The doctor tries to draw a square and asks him what shape it is. He just looks at her. Then she says, "well let me draw it better". So she draws a better one and he looks at me first for the nod and then mutters, "square". I'm just giggling to myself. So she goes on with the physical and then has him do things like stand on one foot and walk as if on a tight rope. Then she leaves to go make copies of his immunization record. Koen informs me that the first square she drew was more of a rectangle. Then he starts talking about how he likes this new doctor's office. He talks about how they have fish and the other one didn't. He talks about how he likes to go to the dentist better because they let him pick out a toy. And he is just talking, talking, talking. Oh, he is so me. Then she comes back in and he shuts up like a clam. It brings back memories of when I was young.

What am I talking about, I still have my shyness. I was talking about being shy with someone the other day. I said even though I was terribly shy, I was still very much a social person. I loved being around people. I didn't want them to speak to me or look at me, but I wanted to be around them. I played t-ball, I went to gymnastics, I had friends. I did not let my shyness close me off, probably thanks to my mother. I see the same desires from Koen. He doesn't want to just be left alone. He wants to play, and experience things. I have studied how to parent a shy child. I know I'm still not an expert but I have picked up some good advice. The best is to keep giving him opportunities but not to force. So far I think things are going alright. I am interested in seeing how he acts at the skate park. He won't know anybody there, and they will most likely all be older then him. He really wants to do it though and I think this will be a great thing for him to do. I mean, I might even be more excited than he is. Well, I'll write about his experiences there later as they come.