Best Buddies Anyone Could Have

Band buddies--first year--2014

Numerous people have mentioned the above photo to me, after I posted it on my Facebook page a week or so ago. These four guys are the best buddies anyone could have. There is one buddy missing from the photo, he isn't in band. This photo captures these guys' personalities. Keyton and his buddies do their own thing--they don't bug anyone, their easy going dudes. Their like honey badgers. I admire their ability to let "things" roll off of their shoulders. I appreciate my son's group of friends.

I can easily recall an event I was recently at, where kids were suppose to pick partners for a game. I watched Keyton try to partner up with a child. It was [more than] obvious this child didn't want to be Keyton's partner in the game they were about to play. He approached the child, the child pretended not to hear Keyton, even after Keyton tapped the child on the shoulder, the child continued to ignore him while trying to make it clear they had no intentions of being Keyton's partner. In my head, I was like, "Keyton-- dude, ask someone else!" but, Keyton asked this child a few more times, and the child continued to ignore him, until the child finally told Keyton no. This hurt my heart more than Keyton's. In fact, it didn't seem to phase him-- I saw Keyton shrug his shoulders and I watched him move on. He didn't loose a minute of thought over it. I'll never forget this incident--it was hard to watch. Lucky for Keyton, he understands, it's no big thing.  I learned, he'll either find a different partner to play a game with, or move on to something else. Many kids are naturally competitive (Keyton doesn't seem to be)  I understand these children would rather have a child that is just as competitive as they are on their team(s). I'm thankful these type of scenarios hurt my heart worse than Keyton's heart. I'm ever so proud that Keyton and his friends have empathy for others. I'm happy that Keyton doesn't go out of his way to hang out with those that turn their noses up at him. I'm happy he and his friends are still little boys who play the games they want and really don't care what other's think--they'll happily play "wizards" (I don't even know what this consists of--maybe swords and magic wands?). Keyton loves to play on the computer, I have to be attentive during this activity, or he would never stop. There is this game Keyton plays with his buddies, they can all play together while at their own houses, they wear headsets to communicate with one another (yes headsets). Keyton goes to one of his buddy's house and plays his trombone and he and his friends have jam sessions together--I mainly love this, because they are playing tubas, trumpets and saxophones. It's not uncommon for me to lock myself in the bathroom when the trombone starts up at my house--it's not uncommon that I'm talking on the phone while Keyton is playing his trombone--my friends have even quit mentioning it, it's normal background sounds these days.

Keyton told me he has been called a geek. I tell him," Be proud buddy, let your geek flag fly high." He doesn't LOVE being called a geek, but he has learned to embrace the fact that he likes what he likes (and ain't nobody going to stomp on his spirit). He won't go out his way to try to fit in and I'm guilty of buying him the named brand clothing to try to help him fit in, but fit in with what? This is a question, I cannot answer. Make no mistake, I know Keyton can be naughty, he drives me up a tree some days.

I'm proud of everyone who does what they love--even if it's not classified as hip. I wish I'd been more like Keyton as a child. Who knows, I could have been the next Kenny G.

Saucy Fellow

Teasing (not real mean) people, (my children mostly--okay mainly) is one of my most favorite past times in the world. Pulling their leg--is fun--pranking is the best. When Keyton was two/three-years-old, he loved the Children's Singer Raffi. One of the songs on the Raffi C.D  was titled, "Robin in the Rain". The first two lines in the song are, Robin in the rain, what a saucy fellow. Personally, I think calling a Robin a saucy fellow is funny, so naturally, I took to calling Keyton Saucy fellow. He. Hated. It. Keyton is my most serious child. Keyton at three would say (sternly,annoyed, livid), "I'm not saucy fellow, I'm Keyton Opsal!" I'd say "OK. OK, Saucy fellow." When Keyton was four I said to him, "I love the name Saucy Fellow so much, I went to the name changing station and changed your name to Saucy Fellow." He was pissed. He said, "Go back to the name changing station and change it back to Keyton!" Me-"What? But, I like saucy fellow, I just didn't know that name when you were born, but now I do, and I love it and now you are Saucy Fellow." Keyton-"I'm not Saucy Fellow, I'm Keyton Opsal!". Me-"Oh. Ok, Sauce. Now go pick up your blocks." Keyton-"I'm not Saucy Fellow!". This went on for years. Actually, it still goes on. If I pick him up today from school and ask "Saucy Fellow, how was school? He would say,"I'm not Saucy Fellow!" My brother has called him Saucy Fellow, Hal has called him Saucy Fellow, Jesse has called him Saucy Fellow, and my mom has called him Saucy Fellow. So, now I encourage you, next time you see him, call him Saucy Fellow. It never gets old. In fact today, when he gets into the car, I'm going to video myself saying, "Hi saucy Fellow, how was school?" I know his reaction with be epic. I'll post the video. It's be especially great, because this will be the first time I've called him Saucy Fellow in months. It's friendly teasing really. When he gets too worked up, I say, "OK--calm down, Sauce."

This morning on the way to school, I had Beastie Boy's "Fight for Your Right" playing--loud.  When the kids and I got one block away from the school, Keyton kept turning down the music. And when we parked in front of the school, Keyton jumped out as fast as possible and slammed the door--before I had the chance to play, "Brass Monkey" for the other children walking into the school. Hal also jumped out and slammed the door .In fact, this was the fastest Hal has ever gotten out of the car. Good thing for the other children, I rolled down the passenger side window and idled there for a half a minute, and they got to hear "Brass Monkey" Unfortunately, my two children didn't get to hear "Brass Monkey" because they sprinted into the school. However,the other children all walked backwards in slow motion looking at my vehicle. My day has started out right. 

Keyton Band O Rama, 2014

The above picture is of Keyton and I. I don't know if he was embarrassed to take the picture with me--my guess is yes. He's a good boy. He's looking like a Saucy Little Fellow.