What's new with ETHAN!!!

Ethan is nine and in fourth grade. Ethan got glasses back in November. He was having trouble seeing the board so we took him to the optometrist. I got glasses in the fifth grade so it was not really a big surprise to me that our kids would get them eventually. The great thing is that glasses are IN and the kids think it is so cool. Lily is just hoping her eyes go bad and she can have some soon. Ethan was happy that he got to pick them out himself. I did not even do my usual "influencing" chatter. I just let him choose the ones he liked best.
Ethan is very into Legos still, has found a new love for kickball and four square, and enjoys an occasional game of Lego Star wars on the Wii. Ethan is a bear in scouts and enjoys most of scouting.
A few weeks ago we took the kids to an open mat session for wrestling at the high school. When we got there I was told that the girls could try too and so the three of them jumped out onto the mat for practice. Ethan was a little timid at first but with much coaxing we got him out there and he absolutely loved it. All four kids said, "sign me up"!
On the third night Ethan got a little hurt and was pretty discouraged about going back. he asked why I would put him in something where he would get beat up. I told him a story about a girl who was discouraged after a swim meet where she did not do very well but after practice and perseverance she ended up being the BEST. I told him he needed to stick it out and try his best. The next practice he took a boy down once.... that was all it took to get him back on the mats and feeling confident that he can do this.
I am not very good at pushing my kids to push themselves but I am learning that if I don't, push at all it is easy for them to just want to coast. I am not looking to make Ethan a world famous wrestler. I just want him to know what it feels like to succeed at something that he has never tried before. I think wrestling is good for him because he does not have to worry about letting anyone down but himself. If he gets taken down only he cares and only he can get back up and try again. The night he came home after he took a kid to the mat, he was so happy that he had not given up. It was a great learning experience for both of us. Ethan and I have always had good communication. I get him and he listens to me. He is good at a lot of things but shys away from things he has not "perfected" yet. He worries he will mess up. I think he knows now that it is good to mess up. I can't say enough hard this was for me to push him to do this but I am so gald now that I did.
One more thing about this amazing kid... he was the only one in the entire fourth grade (at his school) to get 100 percent on the state math test this year! Go ETHAN!!!
Ethan is