By Chris Kovatch

I like to think that my kids are as entertaining to others as they are to me. Trust me they have their moments where they like to stretch that one last nerve to the breaking point, but for the most part, I am blessed with a pretty awesome set of kids.

Each of them makes life so much richer in their own unique way.

Jackson is an intelligent boy who takes everything at face value.

Rosie has a heart of gold and goes out of her way to make sure everyone has what they need.

Thayer is quite the character who leverages his cuteness quite regularly.

Summer loves to talk and does her best to make sure everyone is engaged in conversation.

Stryker is my comedian and will do anything for a laugh.

Little Man is the baby of the family and plays that part quite well.

I hope I didn’t forget a kiddo.

I say all this to give a very high-level view as to why we chose to have a large family and why we love it so much. The kids each make our life so much fuller and make our crazy life perfect for us.

Stryker is perhaps my biggest challenge and biggest success. So much personality rolled into a scrawny 6-year-old boy. He pushes every boundary set for him multiple times per day but is so quick to apologize for doing what he shouldn’t. It is hard to stay mad at him for long.

He is also my king of one-liners. There was a period of time where he addressed Christi and I as ‘your highness’ and ‘my darlin’.

At dinner, he regularly asks his siblings to raise their glasses and makes a toast ‘to the kids’.

This past weekend we also had several discussions about his birth family and where he comes from. We try to provide age-appropriate information to him and on a level he understands.

Historically, we have told him that he came to our family because it wasn’t safe where he was living. Summer took that to mean there were snakes. Stryker, on the other hand, was concerned that drones were after him as an infant. He also asked if I knew where his birth family lives and before I could answer he replied in his spookiest voice ‘noooobody knows’.

I am so grateful for his sense of humor and outlook on life.

At a young age, it brings about mainly laughs for us, but it will serve him well as he grows up. You see, there is no doubt in Stryker’s mind that we are his family. I am his Dad. Period.

I do realize though that the day will come when he has more questions and honestly he will begin to wonder why his birth parents rights were terminated. That is a lot for a child to deal with. That is why we talk so openly about it at a young age.  I believe his humorous side will serve him well when dealing with feelings as he gets older.

It’s a lot easier to focus on what you have, laugh and be happy than to ponder on things that have happened in the past.

We all routinely lose focus on what we have and instead focus on things outside of our control.

I hope his humor will help keep his view of life in focus.