Twenty Questions - Finn 12
Starting at age three, I've asked Finn 20 questions around the time of his birthday. I chose NOT to direct or influence his initial answers. Here are his responses:
20 questions: answered by Finnegan on 1/11/2021
1. What is your favorite color? Neon orange and neon green
2. What is your favorite toy or thing to play with? Lego
3. What is your favorite fruit? blackberries
4. What is your favorite TV show/YouTube channel/movie? TV Show: Pokemon, oh wait, BattleBots ; YouTube Channel: TechZone; Movie: after lots of thought...Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Home: Adult Lunchables (Hillshire Farm Snacking Plates); School: pizza rounds with French dressing; Restaurant: burrito from Bugambilias
6. What is your favorite outfit/thing to wear? Under Armour and/or DryFit
7. What is your favorite board game/card game/video game? Board Game: The Game of Life; Card Game: Uno Attack; Video Game: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
8. What is your favorite snack? chocolate, any kind
9. What is your favorite animal? birds
10. What is your favorite song? Anything on Kidz Bop
11. What is your favorite book? Percy Jackson series...anything by Rick Riordan
12. Who is your best friend? Xavier P
13. What is your favorite cereal? Frosted Mini Wheats
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Summer: driving RC car outside; Winter: snowboarding
15. What is your favorite drink? Rootbeer
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Kiki
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Frosted Mini Wheats
19. If you could pick anything, what would you eat for dinner on your birthday? Chori pollo or LeeAnn Chin (but he picked potstickers this year!)
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Drawer like an illustrator, no color, just pencil
Bonus Questions:
21. What is your favorite sport/activity to play? Football in our backyard
22. What is your most/least favorite part of school? Best: getting done each day...or math; Least: Distance Learning
My two cents (for what they're worth, which isn't much! LOL):
1. I feel like his favorite color changes every few minutes, which is good, but drives me nuts when trying to figure out what colors he likes!
4. He honestly didn't know what "TV shows" were! 🙈 He came up with BattleBots after I gave him several suggestions. I honestly don't think he watches Pokemon much any more. The movie was hard for him to think of one, but to be fair, he probably hasn't BEEN to a movie theater in over a year!
7. He got Life for his birthday so it was probably top of mind, but we all do love playing it!
8. When he looked at his answers from last year AFTER he was done with this year's, he said. "Oops, I forgot about Nutella and pretzels!" Which I think is actually his favorite.
14. He wanted them separated into seasons, which makes sense. Also, he hasn't actually gotten to drive his RC car outside in the summer because he got it for Christmas AND he got a snow board for his birthday but has used that several times already. Snowboarding is a sport where being a little shorter is an advantage!
17. KiKi is a blue "lovey" with the head of Winnie the Pooh that he got when he was a baby. I've since bought five others or so but told him no more! LOL
19. His answer literally made me laugh because I said but you picked potstickers! He said he forgot about Chori Pollo!
20. Again this year, he had a really hard time coming up with anything for this one. I rememeber being a kid and wanting to be lots of things. I think he's just a deeper thinker than I was! I do see drawing of some sort in his future, even if it is as an architect.
21. Because he LOVES playing football at school but HATES getting tackled. He's safer in our backyard. LOL
22. I feel the best was a total "tween-ager" response so I forced him to tell me his favorite subject. Also, his least made me sad, but they should hopefully be going back to school before too long.
If you are curious as to what his responses were last year,
click here to link to that post!
This was the last picture I took of him before he turned 12 because I forgot to take my usual "last picture" at bedtime the night before. This was two days before his birthday and we were visiting Great Grandma Smith and Great Grandma Walsh...which made my heart so happy. I also wanted to post this picture because it shows where we are right now with the social distance and masks. But a safe visit is better than no visit (although I would have given anything for a hug from both of these amazing ladies!!):
And this was the first picture I took of him on his birthday as a 12 year old:
Side note for those of you who know me well: he was given the option and it was his CHOICE to still have Christmas up for his birthday! He's so handsome and growing up way too fast. He's on a "long hair" kick and while I know this isn't actually very long, it drives me nuts because it is so shaggy. Hopefully one day soon, I can bring him to a salon to get it shaped up a bit...or a visit with Auntie NaeNae!!🙏 It isn't deemed "necessary" at our house right now.
A few weeks before his birthday, I asked him what he wanted for his birthday cake. He said he'd think about it but finally a week before, I was like, I need an answer, Bud! And you could hear my heart break into a million pieces when he said, "I want a chocolate/chocolate Dairy Queen ice cream cake." I tried really hard to not make it be about me and held my tears in and pulled myself together...and picked up the phone to order him a DQ cake. I mean, it was WAY easier NOT making him a cake, but that isn't the point. Oh, well. Korri saw my disappointment and said not to worry, her birthday was just around the corner! And the cake was actually decent:
He got a lot of Lego sets and has put them all together already. He and Mac rearranged their bookshelf so they could use it was Lego display instead. Also, before you create a scavenger hunt to find a present for your child...make sure they will LIKE doing said scavenger hunt! Jim and Korri created a really cute one but Finn HATED it because he felt like he was being tricked. So, no more scavenger hunts for presents for him. He asked for and received a snowboard for his birthday. I was shocked at how quickly he took to it and figured it out. This video is the second of third time going down the hill on it:
This is our last year of being teenage-free! I can't believe we are knocking on the door of having a teenager. While the days may go by slowly, the years just fly by. Finn has really matured a lot this year and has learned to control his reactions much better. I think he understand responsibility and while he doesn't WANT to do what we tell him, he usually does. We have really focused on kindness this year, especially with being together so much due to COVID and I can see him making an effort (albeit a very small one!) to include Korri and be kind to her. Hey, I'll take it.
And the very best part about turning 12, I measured him and he is FINALLY tall enough to not need a booster seat any more!!! Finn and Korri were both asking to get measure once a week, so I finally said I would wait until Finn's birthday. He TECHNICALLY has just under a quarter inch to get to the required height, but I count that close enough (especially since he NEVERS goes anywhere right now!). Plus, we have his well child appointment in a couple weeks and we'll get an official height measurement then. Big day for Finn (and Korri, because I said she had to be in one as long as Finn had to be!)!!! The next hurdle will probably be a phone but I'm REALLY trying to hold out on that until ninth grade. We'll see. Say a prayer for strength for Jim and me!
We have also worked very hard this to year understand your emotions better and to be able to express them. He often comes up to me and says, "huggy?" and just wants a hug. I ALWAYS stop what I'm doing and give him an extra long hug. This is HUGE for him and really shows a lot of his growth. And I'd be lying if it doesn't just about make my mom heart explode...every. single. time!! He's really going to do amazing things and I can't wait to see what they are. However, time can slow down a little, if it wants. I guess that is one thing quarantining during COVID has given us, time together! I'll take it.
