One more post and I'm off to do a late-night spurt on Wii Fit Plus!
Last week a number of positive things happened for or about each of our children. Christopher won "Student of the Month" at his middle school for being courteous (our middle-schooler??? just kidding! the students are nominated by their block teacher for a particular skill of the month); we got a heartwarming e-mail from Kieran's teacher; Chris' math tutor complimented him; and Nicholas's little friend Asher (who is new to preschool and has had a hard time adjusting) told his mom that Nicholas "makes me waff" (laugh). Kieran also got a great report card on Friday, and his teacher commented that she thinks he might end the year above grade level in reading (he started out the year below grade level).
As much as parenting can be exhausting, kids can be clueless or inconsiderate of their parents' needs, six-year-olds are extremely temperamental and hard not to lose patience with, and it's easy to criticize ourselves for not raising children who are more independent and clean up better after themselves (!), the developments last week made me feel that maybe we're not doing too badly at this tough job called parenting. I remember reading in some parenting book that when you compare how children act at home and how they act at school, their school personality is more indicative of how they will turn out in life. Then yesterday I read in the Seattle Times that one of the best indicators of a child's success is whether they care about other people and are able to demonstrate "executive function" (not punching their boss in the face when he annoys, for example).
We're certainly far from perfect...but maybe they will turn out okay after all! We can only hope.
Last week a number of positive things happened for or about each of our children. Christopher won "Student of the Month" at his middle school for being courteous (our middle-schooler??? just kidding! the students are nominated by their block teacher for a particular skill of the month); we got a heartwarming e-mail from Kieran's teacher; Chris' math tutor complimented him; and Nicholas's little friend Asher (who is new to preschool and has had a hard time adjusting) told his mom that Nicholas "makes me waff" (laugh). Kieran also got a great report card on Friday, and his teacher commented that she thinks he might end the year above grade level in reading (he started out the year below grade level).
As much as parenting can be exhausting, kids can be clueless or inconsiderate of their parents' needs, six-year-olds are extremely temperamental and hard not to lose patience with, and it's easy to criticize ourselves for not raising children who are more independent and clean up better after themselves (!), the developments last week made me feel that maybe we're not doing too badly at this tough job called parenting. I remember reading in some parenting book that when you compare how children act at home and how they act at school, their school personality is more indicative of how they will turn out in life. Then yesterday I read in the Seattle Times that one of the best indicators of a child's success is whether they care about other people and are able to demonstrate "executive function" (not punching their boss in the face when he annoys, for example).
We're certainly far from perfect...but maybe they will turn out okay after all! We can only hope.
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