Grandson Isaiah’s tenth year was filled with collections of boyhood in the year in which children are typically drawn to collecting and classifying. His album of baseball cards expanded as did his knowledge of amazing facts from nature and the Guinness Book of World Records (undoubtedly in the top ten of favorite fifth grade books). Like many children at this age, Isaiah became a voracious reader of chapter books, relishing series (Percy Jackson) and themes (outdoor adventure) from Gary Paulson, Roland Smith, Ben Mikaelsen, and others.

Isaiah showed perseverance with his martial arts (gaining a green belt) and with his first year in organized baseball: He got to pitch in two games, played the outfield, and by the end of the season began to connect with his bat. While his team struggled through a losing season, he and his teammates had good team spirit and the kind of patient coach every ten-year-old needs. The coach taught the kids a lot of fundamentals about the game and good sportmanship.

Isaiah showed considerable lack of perseverance when it came to chores or a neat room—not unusual for a ten-year-old. But as the year progressed, he did gain some ground accomplishing his homework with fewer reminders. He got some outside help understanding his attentional issues and his strong cognitive abilities and how to cope with both. Having the opportunity to talk to a trusted adult outside the family can be a great asset for children at this age. This was especially important for Isaiah, who benefitted from having a counselor he could talk to about his feelings surrounding the divorce of his parents, which occurred during his tenth year. Some of Isaiah’s friends were also experiencing the divorce of their parents at the same time as Isaiah. It’s a not uncommon occurance in the lives of many children today.

So ten was a struggle for Isaiah, but his resilience, great sense of humor, fun classmates, a good teacher of 28 lively students, and the support of his family make the advent of eleven and the years ahead full of promise.

Isaiah’s turning eleven reminded me of the wonderful words of Sandra Cisneros in Women Hollering Creek and Other Stories. In a story called “Eleven,” a child muses about how we contain within us all the ages that we have been before.  “The way you grow old,” she says, “ is kind of like an onion . . . or like my little wooden dolls that fit one inside the other, each year inside the next one.” And sometimes, she believes, it takes a while to feel that you really are the new age. Even then, “you might need to sit on your mama’s lap sometimes because you’re scared, and that’s the part of you that’s five. And maybe one day when you’re all grown up maybe you need to cry like if you’re three, and that’s okay.”

And so I wish for Isaiah—and all the other tens turning eleven— joy and strength, fun and flexibility, and the willingness to come to the adults in their lives for loving support on those “I feel a whole lot younger than eleven” days.