Spending Time with Big Boy Child

 
Today I asked my big boy child to go on a winter hike with me.  Just him and me.  He didn't really want to go, but said, "I'll go, if you want me to."  He is 11, so I know that this response is short lived.
We pulled into the parking lot and discovered lots of water and mud.  Of course big boy child couldn't resist and jumped in the first puddle and was more excited when I told him to do it again so that I could capture it!  MUD!
Even though we had fun and enjoyed each other's company, it was a quiet hike.  He has a lot on his mind and is contemplating things. He didn't tell me this, I can just see it in his eyes; in his expressions; in his mood. 
Big boy child is very sensitive.
He is a hockey player and all boy, but a lot of people think he is thick skinned and he is not.  He wears his emotion on his sleeve.  He takes everything personally.  He feels like I have never seen anyone feel. 
We stopped to take a rest and he was making snowballs and throwing them up in the air.  He was watching them fall.  He wasn’t smiling.  He wasn’t laughing.  He was just thinking.  Looking at this picture actually brings tears to my eyes, because with the enormous amount of contemplation comes stress.  Big boy child puts a lot of pressure on himself, which causes this “Little” boy child to sometimes get out of control.  When you feel to the extent that he feels, it goes both ways. 
So, we continued on and he talked when he wanted and was silent when he wanted.  He stopped when he wanted and contemplated and hiked along when he wanted.  I think big boy child needed this hike more than I did.