In Recognition

Happy Birthday!

The school year ends with recognition and awards.  For the 4th year running, my daughter has gone above and beyond. She has received the Mountain Man Award that requires extra goals and shows outstanding academics and citizenship.  She received the National Award for the physical fitness program.  She just missed Presidential level by being less than a minute over the time allowed for girls when running the mile.

After the schoolwide recognitions, I joined her class for a special recorder recital. I'm sure you all remember that lovely instrument from your own 4th grade experience.  She received additional awards for the girl who read the most minutes this year, 5,822 minutes that were recorded. She actually reads more than that (which is why she received her heart's desire of a kindle for her birthday).  She also received an award for the stretchiest girl. For the fitness testing, they have to pass a sit and reach. You sit and reach as far past your toes as you can go.  She can reach 39 centimeters.



And as she spends her very last hours as a 4th grader, she celebrates her birthday.  Today, we all recognize that she is 10 years old. As her body starts to curve, her dad has declared that mumu's are a lovely fashion choice. And while her dad and I batton down the hatches to weather the drama storm, we marvel at how kind she can be, how thoughtful of others (as long as they are not her brothers) and how brillant she is.

 We recognize how lovely, how creative, how smart, how kind,

 how perfectionist, how fashionista and how wonderful she really is.

Late 10

My family has recently discovered the kids bowl free summer program. I'd seen the flyer last year but never paid it much mind. This year with impending summer looming and activities required to keep kid #1 and kid #2 from constant fighting, I thought why not.  Hey, I can even use that semester of bowling I took in college for my generals physical education credit.

My youngest loves bowling. Go ahead, ask me how often he has played the Wii since May 15th when the program started.  He gets up, he does his chores, he reads and ask, "Can we go bowling now?"  He knows we have to bowl in the morning before Kindergarten because there is too much going on after school. It's like Christmas every morning, waking with eager anticipation.

Now we are becoming bowling aficionados. We are far from any level of expert but we're picking up the basics and a little more.  I have finally found the right weight ball works for me.  Yes, I have even purchased bowling shoes.  They're are pretty styling if I do say so myself.

My little bowler is all about the game.  The smallest ball weighs 6 lbs and initially that seemed too heavy.  Now that he has the hang of it, he's convinced that the 8 lbs gives him more strikes.  That's right he gets strikes as of last week.  After a month of playing, rolling, sometimes dropping the ball, he gets the late 10.  The ball rolls down and starts a chain reaction and that last pin or 2 will wobble and with more frequency now, fall all the way down.

Here is a sample of my morning fun.

Bowling Video

His high the first week was 90. Then his next high score was 95. Then 98.  Then he got his first strike. Now he can get at least 1 strike a game.  His real triumph--114.  He had the front counter print that game for his records.

So instead of virtual bowling on the Wii, we're doing the real thing.  It should be very interesting when kid #1 and kid #2 are finally out of school on Friday and we can all be bowling nerds together. We can be the late 10 club because that is the only way we are getting strikes, tilting our heads the side as we watch the last pin wobble and fall.

I respect my parents

Is there a price tag for respect?  Yes and no. As a parent my husband and I have struggled with how to really teach respect.  My kids are reaching the age of talking back, negative attitude, sarcasm, etc.  We are making an extra effort to exemplify respect to our children (yes, I have worked on my road ranting at other cars so my children see that even if a really dumb driver does something dangerous and almost hits us, I still do not lose my cool).  It's a daily struggle to remind my children that no matter how tired, disappointed or upset they are, it is not okay to take it out on me.

My one son particularly struggles--the most independent of course. The more he can do, the less he seems willing to understand that mom and dad still have say, and yes, you do have to talk nicely to us. The school introduced a Tae Kwon Do PE program and my daughter participated. At her graduation, my husband and I looked at each other and paid for a 7 week course for my independent son.

Each morning before he leaves for school, he recites a special creed:

I RESPECT MY PARENTS,
I RESPECT MY TEACHERS,
I RESPECT MY FRIENDS,
I RESPECT MYSELF,
Ma'am/SIR.

This whole month, while he learns to defend himself with special kicks and moves (which he absolutely loves), he is also learning about immediately answering his elders, bowing respectfully and working on the character trait of kindness. Every time I catch him being kind, I praise him and write it down. Every 7 instances earn him a stripe and every three stripes earn him a star on his uniform. His Master inquires at his improvement and asks what he can do to help.

The price tag is a little steep considering we have vehicles and medical bills that we are trying to pay off but I'm doing everything in my power to keep him in the program. How can I not when I see him succeed physically in Tae, emotionally improve, and have wonderful evenings where he asks what he can do to help?  We all need our outlets and for something so important as gaining more self-control and respect, I'm willing to pull out the checkbook to give my son a few more positive role models in his life.