Who's a Big Brother
Ah yes, it has finally happened. I'm finally an official, card-carrying Big Brother. I first mentioned my interest here back in September and I started the application process in early January, as I mentioned here.
I met my new Little Brother yesterday evening and I spent about two hours with him at his house. We connected immediately, much to the surprise of the Big Brothers case worker that was with us. I guess my new Little acts a little too cool sometimes in group settings. He had a PS2, so we pulled that out and compared games that we own and it was easy from then on.
He's a great seven year old and his family goes to North Park church, so the whole Christian thing was my main connection with his mother. Good to know that my case worker had such a keen sense of judgement.
We finished the evening off with a game of two-on-two football (or soccer if you prefer). My Little and I played against his older brother and one of his brothers friends. Their team started the game with three straight goals but we eventually came back and won by one goal, 7-6. There were a couple of sweet moves that my Little pulled out, including one sequence during which he defended against a two-on-one rush, stole the ball and then scored on them.
As one final note, someone may be confused by the fact that my Little already has an older brother in his family. Why am I a Big Brother if he has a big brother? The key is that he doesn't have a father living with him so I'm acting as an adult friend for him. I'm not supposed to be a father figure, just an adult male that's involved in his life.
It's going to be great!
4 comments:
that's so fanflippintastic and i couldn't think of anyone better suited for the job. with your great big heart and easy going attitude you'll make for an amazing role model. all the best to you and your Little. Have fun! Love you lots! ~L
That's amazing, Jamie! Good to hear that everything went through okay and that they ignored the criminal charges you have on your record. Whoops, was that out loud? hahaha I'm kidding of course. Why do you call him your "Little"?
Congrats Jamie! You've accomplished one of your goals!
It's sounds like a wonderful and rewarding experience to be a mentor to a little brother. :-)
Cheers,
P.S. It's great to hear about your stories, but I was just wondering if there is some sort of confidentiality issues associatied with Big Brothers etc.
Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. Big Brothers uses the term 'Little' for the child and 'Big' for the adult, so I've done the same.
And there may be some confidentiality issues, Amanda, but it's more like having a friend so it's not really policy-driven. I'll keep any related posts light on the details but I don't think I have to be too strict about it. After all, anyone that spends time with me regularly will meet my Little soon enough.
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