Steven

So we thought, in order to give you a better take on our experience here, that we would do a short description of each of the kids we've been asked to concentrate on. They are the five youngest in the home, and Steven is six years old, the youngest of the five. He was left in the hospital by his mother as an infant. When Steve and Pam went to court, his mother was there and relinquished parental rights, claiming she couldn't take care of him and his father didn't know he was born.

Look at this guy's face. I can't tell you how much joy this kid brings us. I have him in my first grade classes, too (English, Science, and Math), so I get to spend a lot of time with him each day, and consequently, I attached to him pretty quickly. He's such a nice, sweet kid, but very ornery and mischevious, which I love about him (when we're not in class anyway). He's the kind of kid that's disobedient in class because he's ambitious and curious, not because he wants to be disobedient. When he realizes he's being disobedient, he shrugs his shoulders and says, "Sah-ree," with a big grin. About once a week, he draws me a picture in class, and labels it, "to: Deybid". And much more often than that, he reminds me that I'm crazy, although it comes out more like, "Yer crdacy."

After school, we make sure the kids do their chores. It rotates based on a point system between picking up trash and dog poop, taking out the trash, sweeping different parts of the complex, and some chore in the evening that Katie and I aren't around for. Steven's chore this past week was picking up the trash and poop. It's a bit difficult to get him to focus, and when we find poop, he tries to pick it up with two sticks.

Another part of our responsibilities with the five is to supervise baths. Steven's definitely a shower singer. He usually sings, "Quiero mover el bote," which I believe translates, "I want to move the can." It's from the Spanish version of Madagascar when they sing, "I like to move it, move it," if that helps you put a tune to it. He also does this hilarious dance where he clasps his hands over his head and moves his hips back and forth.

About a week ago, Jeffy was taking a bath, so I was sitting on the toilet lid while he was washing, and Steven bursts through the door, exposed and pinching it off already. When he saw I was in the way, he got all panicky, and wide-eyed he started yelling, "I gotta go, I gotta go." Except before he actually said anything pee started spraying everywhere. There was no stream to avoid because he isn't circumcised, so it was like buckshot. I wanted to be mad but I couldn't; it was so stinking funny. I was a little grossed out, though.

After bath time, Katie and I get to basically hang out with the kids. Sometimes we read with them, or I'll play soccer with the boys. They were on a swing fix for a couple weeks, and after I showed them the underdog, all I heard was, "Dave, can you do me the underdog? As higher you can!"

Well, I hope you guys can get an idea what Steven's like, and I wish you all could know him. He's such a special kid, and I'm sure you all would love him like we do.