Proud Mom

Disclaimer: This post was hard for me to include, because I never want people think I'm a bragger. I usually try to steer as far away from that line as possible; however, I decided to include this entry because, as I mentioned before, I really want to keep this record for myself and for my kids. It would be a shame to avoid recording moments of when I feel proud of my kids because I am worried of what someone else might think. I guess I could always just record these types of memories in a separate private journal, but two records, really? I don't think it's going to happen. So, at the risk of sounding like I think my kids are the bomb, I am going record how truly happy and proud I felt after attending Reed's kindergarten parent-teacher conference today. If you're name is not is not Sam, feel free to stop reading here.

Reed has an awesome kindergarten teacher. I was very hesitant to send Reed to kindergarten in the first place, and when I finally did decide to I prayed that he would get the right teacher for him. My prayer was definitely answered. Reed is a smart boy, but I worried that kindergarten wouldn't be the best fit for him. I knew that he already knew most of what would be covered and I also knew that he still had a bit of a problem controlling his emotions (the nice way of saying he still threw fits when things didn't go his way). To me this was a recipe for disaster. I figured he would be bored, be in trouble and end up not liking school---something I definitely did not want.

We are now 3/4 of the way through the school year and I can say that things have gone so much better than I anticipated. His teacher has been so accommodating to his strengths and weaknesses--giving him extra opportunities to be academically challenged while being so patient while he learns to better control his emotions. His progress has not been overnight, but today at our parent-teacher conference I realized how much progress he has made.

Reed's teacher could not say enough about how much she loved having Reed in her class. How imaginative and passionate he is and how having him in the class has forced her to ask more open-ended questions to keep Reed thinking. She said that she could tell from the beginning how much Reed was capable of, but she can now finally see him putting forth the effort and focus to make the most of his talents. She was so excited to show me his most recent writing sample, which was a little book all about trees. He wrote 3 or 4 pages all about why trees are important, what different varieties they come in and how you can cut them down and learn different things about them from looking at their rings . The part I loved the most is how focused and hard working she said he had been--and how excited he had been about the project. I was so happy to hear that he has been working hard and even happier when she mentioned that for the past month he hadn't had any problem handling himself when things didn't go the way he wanted. I was so proud.

I think sometimes I am a little hard on Reed because I know what he is capable of and I expect a lot from him. I do think it's good to push him, but today I think I'll just be proud.