The Making of a Blaze Hero
Posted by Joanne Rock in Joanne Rock, tags: Blaze Heroes, Joanne Rock, sports heroes
Being a girly girl of sorts, I was a little caught off guard to end up as a mother of sons exclusively. Well not surprised, per se, since my husband comes from a family of seven boys and one girl. I kinda expected the Y chromosomes would be plentiful. But my education in sports and cars was sketchy, having spent my childhood 
orchestrating extremely well attended tea parties (my stuffed animal collection rivaled the best on the block) and testing out exotic nail polish colors on Barbie’s barely existent toes.
So I’m intrigued to watch these boys of mine grow up. Their world and their experiences are so much different than mine. Take sports for example. Their father is a bit sports-obsessed, but all the boys have great interest in any arena that requires athleticism and skill, so their dad isn’t exactly leading them anywhere they don’t want to go. From broom ball to stick ball, hockey to hoop, these kids have played every game imaginable, making up their own from rudimentary materials at hand when they lack the proper court and equipment. 
Trust me, not five minutes passes in my house in which one of them doesn’t challenge another in some sporty test of skill. Whether it’s seeing who can be first to the dinner table or who can stick the landing on a handcrafted backyard mogul, my boys are extremely competitive.
You might ask what this has to do with the making of a Blaze hero. Well, I’ve decided I must be somehow engaged in the process as I raise three strong, smack-talking competitors with relentless drive to be the best. I mean, I added in some manners wherever I could—they’d better hold those doors open me or face dire consequences—and I’ve nourished and encouraged their innate intelligence wherever possible. But all the rest of who they are seems to come from pre-scripted he-man DNA that has nothing to do with me. Other than the fact that my husband famously claims to have married me for my ability to palm a basketball (something I didn’t know I could do until he placed one in my hand), I don’t think I had much to do with the 
development of these soon-to-be men.
Still, I’ve got to smile. Between the muscles they’re dead set on building and the quick wits they’re forced to develop from the non-stop verbal sparring, I can’t help but see signs of heroes in the making.
***So I’ve got to ask the moms… do you feel like you’ve influenced your kids to a great extent? Or are you continually amazed at what uniquely different personalities you encounter in them?? Hop on the boards to tell me what you think and I’ll be glad to share a copy of SHE THINKS HER EX IS SEXY with a random poster. ***
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Well, I am not a mom, but I am an aunt. I daycare for my niece daily, so I am considered the “other mom”, and I have more influence on her than I sometimes realize, but only in a good way
It’s kind of funny to see what characteristics she picks up from our entire family. I tend to talk with my hands while I am speaking, so does she. My sister tends to wrinkle her nose in disgust at some things, so does she. And what is even more hilarious (at least for right now) is her stubbornness, she gets that from her mom too 
I remember my sister being this way when we were little, and my mom (grandma) constantly tells us how difficult my sister was (looks like she will be getting paybacks through my niece).
Interesting how siblings raised with the same family/same genes can have such distinct personalities at early ages. My middle son makes a teeth-baring expression when he’s about to tackle you– or bear hug you– that he’s been making since he was about eighteen months old. I laughed so hard watching an old video recently to see him barely walking and making his growly face right before he pinned his older brother for baby wrestling. He still makes *exactly* the same face.
(C)
Never once did she consider what anyone thought of this move. Even when her dad looked at her and scratched his head she told him “It was an Ashley thing!” 
I do not know how much I influenced my oldest because I came into her life when she was 9 years old. Although she tells me I have always been “Mom” to her, sometimes even more than the biological one. I like to think I had something to do with the totally awesome person she grew up to be.
(H)
My youngest child is a lot like I was as a child. She is very shy and as a little girl we teased her calling her “The Barbie Queen”! LOL She is still very shy and the love of shopping for shoes and clothes rivals none. I tried to encourage her to be herself in every way and to not try and be something or someone she really isn’t. These lessons have stayed with her. I mean two days after she graduated from high school she went out and dyed her hair HOT PINK. She ran the gauntlet of colors from pink to blue to purple.
Although she has a normal hair color now, she had the funky hair thing going for two years. I like to think I influenced her in other areas but other than the tender heart that she inherited from myself which BTW I got from my dad, I think she is very much her own person. And that is okay with me!
I have 4 children, 1 daughter and 3 sons. Personality wise they are all very different. One wants to travel, one wants to help and counsel others, one wants to be a sports star and one wants to be a research scientist.
They are all stubborn! Maybe that’s a trait in all of us??? We want to be right so we think we are right…most of the time.
Parenting- We encouraged honesty, politeness, hard work in school and jobs. We encouraged them to set goals, think before they speak, respect other people and the environment. We gave them lot’s of hugs and love. I think children do pick up on how you treat others and they will mimmick your actions.
I’m not a mom, but I definitely learned some things from my parents that I’ve carried through to adulthood. I share their strong work ethic and love of helping. However, there are many more things that I’m their complete opposite in, like politics and neatfreakness. It’s at those moments when my mother insists I was left on their doorstep as a baby.
Joanne, I, too, am stunned to find myself the mother of boys. However, I thought it was a splendid chance to raise enlightened men. I just didn’t realize it would take so much enlightening. :-O
Amen!!
Joanne, I am not a mom (except to 3 dogs — sigh…), but I have a brother, several nieces, nephews, and lots of god-daughters. I am 7 years older than my brother, and we are complete opposites. He is very outgoing and driven, and I am more shy and withdrawn.
I have taken a role in the upbringing of almost all of them. I have helped teach them manners, always stressed being honest and truthful, encouraged them, helped and given advice when needed, and am always there for them. They have all turned out well, and I am proud of them.
It never ceases to amaze me how many traits we share, but yet are so different in other ways. Of course, that is what makes us all individuals.
I love watching my little nephew daily. He is now 11 months old and he has picked up so much from all of us. He loves to laugh and when you laugh he tries to laugh louder. He knows to put things back in place. He can be one stubborn kid and is starting to show it by trying to ignore us at times. We love music and when we put the radio on he starts shaking his booty… He loves trying everything we eat… if you have food, he wants it! It will be amazing to see how he turns out in years to come and see what kind of personality appears… (*)
Joanne, you have three boys? I had two and said…enough. LOL
It’s a little tough being the only female in the house. But on the other hand, when they’re older, I’ll be happy to bypass the melodrama that is being a teenage girl!
I’m not a mom, but my brother and take after our mom by having a helping hand for anyone who needs it.
I’m really looking forward to your Blaze Sliding into Home, I LOVE baseball.
Thank you, Nicole!! I’m really, really happy with the book and can’t wait to share it. I have absorbed a surprising amount of sports knowledge after being around my husband’s long time job as a sports editor and — later– his hobby of keeping up with all the major sports and seeing them played live wherever possible. So it was great having a way to use some of that information. And of course, it was also fun being able to appreciate baseball players from a distinctly feminine POV as well. I think the cover takes appreciation to a whole new level. (H)
I love the cover, got my attention real quick!
(D) (D) Cheers to thread winner Cathy Phillips!! Cathy, if you email me at joanne@joannerock.com with a mailing address, I’ll ship a copy of SHE THINKS HER EX IS SEXY your way ASAP!
Hi, again, Joanne!
I just sent you an email telling you I got the copy and goodies. You really ROCK!
Thank you so very much!
Congrats Cathy!
Thank’s Nicole! I got them in the mail yesterday.
Congrats Cathy!!! (*)
Thanks, Colleen! I got them in the mail yesterday.
I’m a mom to two young boys (ages 5 and 7 1/2) and am constantly amazed how different they are. The nature vs nurture debate in school takes on a new meaning once you’ve had kids. My oldest son is so much like my husband in personality, it’s scary. My youngest son is definitely his own being. He’s very different than either myself or my husband, but I do see some traits of mine reflected in him. Also, being an only child, I’m learning a LOT about the minds of young men. Some being very stereotypical – like the fact that men never move things when looking for something and this doesn’t seem to have an age requirement (proven when my oldest was 3 and he couldn’t find a toy guitar and our friends’ 2 1/2 yr old daughter found it easily, once she moved a toy that was covering it!), and some not. I think that I’m influencing my kids, but I guess time will tell. I do take it as a very high compliment when my kids go out with friends and when I get them back, the parents tell me how well behaved and polite they were. They aren’t angels, it’s just learning the balance of right and wrong and the proper place for different behaviours.
TV Action & Adventure
Patrick Macnee, The Avengers, Jack Lord, Hawaii Five O. Peter Graves and
Martin Landau of Mission Impossible and the smooth actor that played Peter Gunn.
Westerns- The Wild Wild West- Robert Conrad and Ross Marin, Rawhide Clint Eastwod,
Maverick- Young James Garner. Epics Stories- Falcon Crest- Robert Foxworth,
Dynasty- John James.
What are your favorite Classic TV Series & Heroes?
Oh yes, Mrs. Peel, she would certailNy be a Blaze Heroine.
Bonus Hunk
Timotby Desmitt of Eagles
“Love Will Keep Us Alive”- He wrote it.
OOps!. The BonusHunk is Timothy B. Schmitt not Desmitt.
Have a nice week