Every parent wants to see their child shine. Here is how one mother answered a question many parents of boys carry, and what any family can take home from it. Iconic Glam Kids Editorial
If you are raising a son not interested in sports, you may have felt the question before anyone asks it out loud. Should he be on a team by now? Is he missing something the other boys are getting? Jayden Tarver is nine, and his answer has never been a ball or a field. Fine arts and visual creativity are his passion. He draws, he builds, and he is fascinated by the Titanic and other historical ships. His mom, Deirdre Copeland, made a clear choice about what to do with that, and we really think her answer is worth passing on.
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Raising a Son Not Interested in Sports
Jayden was creating, drawing, and building from the time he was one or two, and his family encouraged it at home. Then came the ships. โOne moment that truly captures my sonโs passion, kindness, and determination is his fascination with the Titanic and other historical ships,โ Jaydenโs mom shared. He has watched the documentaries, old black and white ones included, read every book he could find, and built a LEGO model of the ship that he keeps upgrading as he learns. He has even run his own sink tests.
Watch, read, build, test, upgrade. Then upgrade again. That is a nine-year-old doing what engineers do, and we find it wonderful. He is not only learning about the ship. He wants to fix it.
He dreams of one day rebuilding the Titanic and correcting its design flaws so that it could survive an iceberg collision.
Deirdre, Jaydenโs mom
So what do you do with a boy whose Saturdays belong to a LEGO hull instead of a game? Here is what Deirdre did, and why we think it works. She looked at what he already loved and treated it as the real thing. โHis dedication to learning, creating, testing, and improving reflects not only how deeply he loves history, but also his determination to use what he learns to make something better,โ she wrote.
A Moment for Parents
We share these features for more than the child at the center of them. Each one carries a question for the rest of us raising kids of our own. Your sonโs friends are all signing up for teams. He would rather spend the afternoon drawing a ship or rebuilding one in bricks. Do you sign him up anyway so he fits in, or do you follow where his curiosity is already going? Deirdre followed. What would you do?
Comparison Is the Thief of Joy
You might be wondering whether it is really fine to let a child skip the activities most boys his age are doing. Deirdre has a direct answer for exactly that parent. โFor those parents with a child, a son especially, whoโs not interested in sports or physical activities, just know itโs absolutely fine,โ she wrote. โPour into their passions and watch them shine! Comparison is the thief of joy!โ
Deirdre, who as a child kept her own love of science and space to herself, wants her son to grow up knowing his interests are taken seriously. Her biggest hope is that Jayden knows, deep within himself, that he can truly do what he sets out to do, and that he never lets the world dim his light. Comparison works against that. A child measured against the boy on the next team will always come up short somewhere. A child measured against his own last LEGO model has every reason to keep going.
Pour into their passions and watch them shine!
Deirdre, Jaydenโs mom
Behind Every Little Star
Every shining child has a story, and a guiding light behind them. Here are the ideas Deirdre leans on.
What raising a creative, curious son really takes
Know that it is absolutely fine. A boy who is not drawn to sports or physical activities is not behind. Deirdreโs message to other parents is simple: just know itโs absolutely fine.
Pour into the passion that is already there. Jayden was drawing and building from the time he was one or two, and his family encouraged it at home. Books, documentaries, bricks, and paper became the fuel for what he already loved.
Measure him against his own last version. Comparison is the thief of joy. Every upgrade to the LEGO model is progress against the model before it, not against another child.
Start big moments with positivity. โBefore a big event, our favorite moment consists of prayer,โ Deirdre wrote. โDuring this time, we focus on positivity and thank God for the opportunity.โ A calm, grateful minute before a big moment sets the tone.
Draw it, little star
Draw a ship, a bridge, or anything you would love to build someday. Now draw one change that would make it even stronger. Jayden wants to fix the Titanicโs design so it could survive an iceberg. What would you improve?
A Note from Positive Discipline
In Positive Discipline we teach that mistakes are wonderful opportunities to learn. A model that sinks is not a failure. It is information for the next upgrade, and Jayden already lives that idea every time he runs a sink test. Deirdre adds the piece that keeps his curiosity alive: no comparison. When we encourage a childโs effort and progress instead of measuring him against other children, he learns that his own path is worth following. So try the small version this week. The next time a project falls apart, skip the fix and ask your child, โWhat did you learn for the next version?โ
โOne moment that truly captures my sonโs passion, kindness, and determination is his fascination with the Titanic and other historical ships.โ
ICONIC GLAM KIDS | JAYDEN TARVER | AGE 9
This is the heart of Jaydenโs story. His familyโs full feature, in their own words, lives in the October 2026 Stories edition of Iconic Glam Kidsยฎ.
Behind every icon is a parent who believed first.