Blogging From A to Z: Individual Interests

For some reason "I" was a hard letter for me to come up with a topic for! I finally settled on individual interests and I'm going to spend some time reflecting on the different personalities and the main interests of each of my children. 

Eli - 17 years old, Senior

Eli is my oldest son and was homeschooled from preschool until 7th grade. He's been in public school ever since, for better or worse. Eli is extremely bright and always has been. He is a really hard worker, especially when he puts his mind to something. 

He is a starter on the varsity basketball team for the second year. He loves basketball! He decided he wanted to play between his 7th and 8th grade years, so he worked hard all summer. He had never played before and it showed. When he went to tryouts at the beginning of the year, the coach could not believe the difference in Eli's skill level! He made the junior high team for 8th grade, the junior varsity for 9th and 10th, and the varsity for 11th and 12th. He just keeps getting better. His specialty is three-point shots! He shoots everyday, goes to the school gym to shoot and workout, and genuinely loves and understands the game. I love going to watch him play. He even got the All-District First Teams award for last year's season (which means he was selected as one of the best players in our district).

Eli on the left

Shooting and making a 3-pointer

He is planning to go to college next fall but is a bit undecided on what he wants to do. He has seriously considered going into education to become a teacher and basketball coach at a high school, and he would love to move up to coaching college basketball. He has also mulled over going into other majors where he could make more money, like engineering or project management. Whatever he decides, he will work hard to be the best at it - because that is his personality! 

Mercie - 14 years old, Freshman

By now my readers know that Mercie is majorly into horses. You can read her story of how she got into barrel racing here. She basically decided she wanted to barrel race after attending a rodeo in May of 2021. She started taking some riding lessons but then her teacher went to college so she self-taught herself the rest. We bought her a better horse, Lil Bit, last fall and she's been training her to run the barrels. She has learned so much in such a little amount of time. She has entered several rodeos with plans to do several more this year. She has a competitive personality and wants to be number one in all she does, just like Eli.

Rounding the barrel at her first rodeo

She also loves training horses. She has been working with Butterfinger for a little over a year and finally rode him a few weeks ago. He's not ready to run barrels, but she's hoping to train him as well. He's a beautiful and athletic horse, and he's very fast! She loves working with horses so much she has considered becoming a horse trainer when she graduates. She is also seriously looking at vet school for large animals - we need a good, large animal vet around here!

Silas - 12 years old, 7th grader

Silas isn't really into organized sports, but he loves playing football and basketball in the yard with his friends and siblings. His main interest is tractors - he loves getting to drive the tractor to bush hog or disc. He is really great at operating machines, too. He mows our huge yard with a zero-turn lawn mower and can drive a farm truck pulling a gooseneck cow trailer. He loves anything to do with farming and tractors. I have a feeling he will grow up to be a farmer!

Silas working up Mercie's arena area

He is also really interested in riding bulls, although he's only been in one rodeo. There aren't many youth rodeos around here until fall when Little Britches starts. He's planning to do some bull-riding in these rodeos. He loves helping work our cows, too. 

Riding a bull at the rodeo

Titus - 10 years old, 5th grader

Titus loves farming, tractors, and cows just like Silas does, but his main interest right now is Taekwondo. He's been taking lessons since the first of the year and has advanced up to an orange belt already. His teachers are really impressed with him and let me know it! He has class twice a week and looks forward to it! It's been really good for him, too. He has lots of energy and a really hard time being still and focusing (especially in regards to schoolwork), but when it comes to Taekwondo he can put all of his focus into it. When I watch his belt test or catch the tail end of a class, I'm always amazed at the way he is so into it. He's quiet, he's still, he's focused - it made me realize how much he needed the discipline!

Titus has also been interested in riding bulls and rode some at the Rodeo Bible Camp this summer. He also loves anything to do with farming, just like Silas, and is more than eager to help Rod work cows and fix machinery. He is very mechanical-minded when it comes to working on things. He wants to go to welding school when he graduates and be a welder. He may very well do just that!

Taking a look at my kid's interests is really encouraging for me. Their interests vary based on their personalities. It's fun to watch them engaged in the activities that bring them so much joy. I'm so glad they have the time to pursue these interests. I'm also thankful we have the means to encourage these activities and actively be involved in them. 

What are your kids interested in? Link up any Letter I posts this week, and visit the other posts in the link up to say "hi"!

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