Yahoo! We all made it successfully through another school year. Everyone grew in ways unique to them. All of them had their own set of challenges, but we all made it. We are alive, happy, and ready to open the next chapter. The summer awaits and will be full and joyful, but bringing with it its own set of challenges. Estelle breezed through academically, but had a fair amount of "girl drama." Taylor missed fewer days this year and we have a plan for getting him caught up in math. Sarah's was the most uneventful, I would say, but reached the 8 year old milestone. Spencer has blossomed into a tall, handsome young man. Last, but not least, Emma is ready for Jr. High. As for the parents of this group, Destry started a new job and is having a positive influence on his brother's company and I am geared up to be the PTA president at Thunder Ridge Elementary next year.
School is easy for Estelle and she has good "student' skills. She gets her homework done quickly and without my nagging--hooray! She meets or exceeds every benchmark and her teacher enjoys having her in class. At the first of the school year Estelle could often call me on a Friday after having completed her homework, having forgotten to put it in her backpack. I would take it to her because she really was so good and completing it. She got better at putting it in her backpack as the weeks went on. I figured if that was the worst thing she did, we were both pretty lucky. She got to be a "recess duty guard," an honor reserved for upstanding students. She would monitor the halls of the school and the playground, making sure everyone was following the rules and rewarding those who did with a "caughtya" slip. This is a school wide incentive program to encourage good behavior. All of the names are put in a drawing and are recognized at the Monday assembly.
He one challenge was a big one for her and hurt my heart as well. Estelle is what I would consider a "social butterfly." She loves to plan parties, play with her friends and she is inclusive. She doesn't want to leave anyone out. She does have a rather strong personality to go with her generous heart. At times this year she has had clashes with a girl in her class named Tara. Estelle made a new friend this year, Chloe Shumway. Chloe has been in our ward, but not a near neighbor and the two had not really connected until they were in the same school class. It was fun to see her develop this new friendship. However, after several weeks into the school year, she would come home very sad and had nights of crying herself to sleep.
Tara, to me, it seemed wanted to stir the pot and to feel like she had "exclusive" friendships. She would say mean things to Estelle or simply ignore her while taking many of the girls in the class along with her. Estelle really didn't want to hurt this girl's feelings and would have been her friend, but for some reason Tara simply did not like Estelle. I have never met Tara, only had her described to me by my daughter, so I'm sure I don't have an entirely clear picture of her personality. But being a mama bear there were times I wanted to bring that girl down a few notches. (I kept that to myself, by the way). I tried to encourage Estelle and tell her what a good friend she is. She was never left entirely alone, there were a couple of girls who stuck by Estelle, but Chloe was not one of them. I think this was the most disappointing part for her.
When there were six weeks left in school and we were having more bad days than good I called her teacher and explained the situation. She did not know about the problems because they always took place during recess. She said she would try to support Estelle, even allowing her to sit with a friend from a different class during class--something that is not usually allowed. Each teacher has an assigned table in the lunchroom. I also requested that they not be put in the same class next year. She agreed to put that in the notes. Had there been more time left in the school year I may have requested a meeting with Tara and her mom to see if we could work things out. I also considered calling Chloe's mom and asking her to see if Chloe would consider being more supportive of Estelle. But I decided to just encourage my daughter and wait it out. When the year is over I am certain Estelle and Chloe will become fast friends again and Tara will be out of the picture since she doesn't live nearby.
Estelle and her friend Aubrey Prestwich are planning a last day of school party. Estelle wanted to invite Tara. I said, "No." This speaks to what kind of person she is and probably to what kind of mom I am. Estelle really doesn't like people to not like her and I know she hopes this would help, but I am imagining disaster. Estelle likes to plan out explicit activities for her parties. They are fun and well thought out, but I think that Tara would not take too kindly to Estelle being "in charge." She wants a really long party--4:00-10:00 and I am fairly certain that Estelle and Tara could not manage to be happy together in a social setting for that long. I am choosing to leave the drama at school, thank you very much. Every day we are counting down the days until the last school day, there are currently five including today. We will make it, I just know it.
Taylor finished his eighth grade year mostly being in public school. I put him in Lakeview Academy, a charter school, because of its smaller size. I think it was a good choice for him even though it created more scheduling for me. While he still missed a week at a time, several times, we have not had to use steroids to bring him back among the fully living. That in and of itself is a huge step forward in a world where we celebrate baby steps.
His last day of school is today, but he didn't go. 8th graders never go to school on the last day. When he had six weeks left we had his math skills tested at a tutoring center. I know that he had really been struggling and now I really wish I would have done that sooner, but I can't go back now. We will just pick up where we are now. He has quite a few gaps that we need to go back and review so I took him out of school for two class periods each day. He has been using Khan Acadamy, an online educational tool, to help him get up to speed. He was a bit frustrated today and we are also going to talk to Destry's friend, Alan Jacobson, and have him tutor him a bit. The only problem with that is he lives in Bountiful. The benefit is gas is much cheaper than other tutoring options.
Yesterday he did something that surprised me a bit. It was the next to last day of school and the school was having a field day. I fully expected him to ask if he could stay home. I would have said yes, but he wanted to go and wanted me to find out if he should get there earlier than he usually does so he could participate. The middle school students were helping out with the games for the elementary school kids. I was happy he wanted to go, but he said it was boring when he got home. Oh well. I still consider it a social success that he wanted to go at all.
He is growing and changing and looking and sounding more manly. I had to buy him some new clothes today. He is getting a bit moodier and wanting to seep a bit more. I think the teenager is coming out in him. He deals with so much every day of his life without complaint. He is smart and funny. I know he's not really looking forward to doing math all summer, but he's going to have to work really hard in order to get up to speed for next year. He can do anything if he puts his mind to it.
Sarah's year was the most uneventful of all the kids. It's refreshing to have one. She just sort of glides by and makes it through unscathed. She did well in school. She is an excellent reader, but spelling needs a little help this summer.She did her homework, got along with her friends and her teachers. She was happy unless I asked her to clean her room. She received an award when there had been 100 school days for not having missed one day! Good job. The first day she missed was because her parents took her out for a family day.She may have missed one other day since then and I have had to check her out to to to the orthodontist.
Which brings her to her biggest challenges of the year. Neither of them were school related and both of them occurred within a few weeks of her turning eight. In March we gave our old play set that we had inherited from a neighbor, the Hepworths, to another neighbor, the Spencers. I felt like it was getting old and rickety and should be laid to rest before someone was injured on it. Well as luck would have it, Sarah was climbing up a part of it when a rope came loose and she fell fracturing her right radius near the wrist. That meant wearing a cast for 3 1/2 weeks, including on her birthday. The dentist suggested we take her to the orthodontist to have her crossbite fixed. We went in for a consultation and came out with braces. We have to straighten her molars before she gets fitted for a device that will correct the crossbite.
A week ago I participated in the state PTA convention at BYU. Destry graciously held down the fort for the two days I was gone. I mentioned to him that Sarah had been complaining of a wire poking her cheek and that if he could take her in to get it fixed that would be great. He had too many other things going on and was worried that he wouldn't make it back in time to take Estelle to her play performance if he left when he had time to go. Sarah said she was okay and could wait. Well on Saturday she was complaining a bit more and her cheek looked a little swollen. She woke up on Sunday with a very puffy cheek and in a lot of pain. I stuck my finger in her mouth to see if I could bend the wire behind her tooth and I could feel that the end of the wire was actually inside her cheek. Poor, poor girl. I called the orthodontist and left a message for him to call me, but in the meantime we cleaned a pair of needle-nosed pliers with alcohol and Destry gingerly pulled the whole wire out of her mouth. It came out easily, thankfully. Dr. Payne called back and I explained the situation, including what we had done. He called an antibiotic into Smith's Pharmacy. The rest of the family went to stake conference while Sarah and I waited to pick it up. She took a pill and we arrive at the meeting 30 minutes late. The doctor checked her out on Tuesday and left out the wire waiting for her front tooth to grow in a little bit more. She is fine now and looking forward to a safe and healthy fun summer.
My big boy, Spencer, has grown by leaps and bounds. His school year started off a little shaky academically as he learned that high school is a bigger league than jr. high. His anxiety, while not completely gone, was not as debilitating as it has been in the past. He has good friends, of both genders. His grades got better as the year went on. His driving has improved and he is still alive.
There were a lot of first experienced this year with this boy. He has had his first date, driver's license, first time blessing the Sacrament, first job... He is growing up to be a fine young man and I am proud to be his mother.
Emma finished her last year of elementary school. She was on the student council and was well liked by her peers. She worked hard and received good grades. She is responsible and compassionate. She continues to love horses and volunteering at Hoofbeats to Healing with her friend Kaisyn. She has matured a lot and has been enjoying attending Young Women since she turned 12 last October. She was called right away to be in the Beehive class presidency. It is so good for her to have leadership opportunities and she shines at them. She will get to go to girl's camp for the first time this year and is looking forward to that.
Next year everyone will be in an "odd" grade. I will have children in 4 different schools with 4 different schedules...Bring it!
Estelle and her friend Aubrey Prestwich are planning a last day of school party. Estelle wanted to invite Tara. I said, "No." This speaks to what kind of person she is and probably to what kind of mom I am. Estelle really doesn't like people to not like her and I know she hopes this would help, but I am imagining disaster. Estelle likes to plan out explicit activities for her parties. They are fun and well thought out, but I think that Tara would not take too kindly to Estelle being "in charge." She wants a really long party--4:00-10:00 and I am fairly certain that Estelle and Tara could not manage to be happy together in a social setting for that long. I am choosing to leave the drama at school, thank you very much. Every day we are counting down the days until the last school day, there are currently five including today. We will make it, I just know it.
Taylor finished his eighth grade year mostly being in public school. I put him in Lakeview Academy, a charter school, because of its smaller size. I think it was a good choice for him even though it created more scheduling for me. While he still missed a week at a time, several times, we have not had to use steroids to bring him back among the fully living. That in and of itself is a huge step forward in a world where we celebrate baby steps.
His last day of school is today, but he didn't go. 8th graders never go to school on the last day. When he had six weeks left we had his math skills tested at a tutoring center. I know that he had really been struggling and now I really wish I would have done that sooner, but I can't go back now. We will just pick up where we are now. He has quite a few gaps that we need to go back and review so I took him out of school for two class periods each day. He has been using Khan Acadamy, an online educational tool, to help him get up to speed. He was a bit frustrated today and we are also going to talk to Destry's friend, Alan Jacobson, and have him tutor him a bit. The only problem with that is he lives in Bountiful. The benefit is gas is much cheaper than other tutoring options.
Yesterday he did something that surprised me a bit. It was the next to last day of school and the school was having a field day. I fully expected him to ask if he could stay home. I would have said yes, but he wanted to go and wanted me to find out if he should get there earlier than he usually does so he could participate. The middle school students were helping out with the games for the elementary school kids. I was happy he wanted to go, but he said it was boring when he got home. Oh well. I still consider it a social success that he wanted to go at all.
He is growing and changing and looking and sounding more manly. I had to buy him some new clothes today. He is getting a bit moodier and wanting to seep a bit more. I think the teenager is coming out in him. He deals with so much every day of his life without complaint. He is smart and funny. I know he's not really looking forward to doing math all summer, but he's going to have to work really hard in order to get up to speed for next year. He can do anything if he puts his mind to it.
Sarah's year was the most uneventful of all the kids. It's refreshing to have one. She just sort of glides by and makes it through unscathed. She did well in school. She is an excellent reader, but spelling needs a little help this summer.She did her homework, got along with her friends and her teachers. She was happy unless I asked her to clean her room. She received an award when there had been 100 school days for not having missed one day! Good job. The first day she missed was because her parents took her out for a family day.She may have missed one other day since then and I have had to check her out to to to the orthodontist.
Which brings her to her biggest challenges of the year. Neither of them were school related and both of them occurred within a few weeks of her turning eight. In March we gave our old play set that we had inherited from a neighbor, the Hepworths, to another neighbor, the Spencers. I felt like it was getting old and rickety and should be laid to rest before someone was injured on it. Well as luck would have it, Sarah was climbing up a part of it when a rope came loose and she fell fracturing her right radius near the wrist. That meant wearing a cast for 3 1/2 weeks, including on her birthday. The dentist suggested we take her to the orthodontist to have her crossbite fixed. We went in for a consultation and came out with braces. We have to straighten her molars before she gets fitted for a device that will correct the crossbite.
A week ago I participated in the state PTA convention at BYU. Destry graciously held down the fort for the two days I was gone. I mentioned to him that Sarah had been complaining of a wire poking her cheek and that if he could take her in to get it fixed that would be great. He had too many other things going on and was worried that he wouldn't make it back in time to take Estelle to her play performance if he left when he had time to go. Sarah said she was okay and could wait. Well on Saturday she was complaining a bit more and her cheek looked a little swollen. She woke up on Sunday with a very puffy cheek and in a lot of pain. I stuck my finger in her mouth to see if I could bend the wire behind her tooth and I could feel that the end of the wire was actually inside her cheek. Poor, poor girl. I called the orthodontist and left a message for him to call me, but in the meantime we cleaned a pair of needle-nosed pliers with alcohol and Destry gingerly pulled the whole wire out of her mouth. It came out easily, thankfully. Dr. Payne called back and I explained the situation, including what we had done. He called an antibiotic into Smith's Pharmacy. The rest of the family went to stake conference while Sarah and I waited to pick it up. She took a pill and we arrive at the meeting 30 minutes late. The doctor checked her out on Tuesday and left out the wire waiting for her front tooth to grow in a little bit more. She is fine now and looking forward to a safe and healthy fun summer.
My big boy, Spencer, has grown by leaps and bounds. His school year started off a little shaky academically as he learned that high school is a bigger league than jr. high. His anxiety, while not completely gone, was not as debilitating as it has been in the past. He has good friends, of both genders. His grades got better as the year went on. His driving has improved and he is still alive.
There were a lot of first experienced this year with this boy. He has had his first date, driver's license, first time blessing the Sacrament, first job... He is growing up to be a fine young man and I am proud to be his mother.
Emma finished her last year of elementary school. She was on the student council and was well liked by her peers. She worked hard and received good grades. She is responsible and compassionate. She continues to love horses and volunteering at Hoofbeats to Healing with her friend Kaisyn. She has matured a lot and has been enjoying attending Young Women since she turned 12 last October. She was called right away to be in the Beehive class presidency. It is so good for her to have leadership opportunities and she shines at them. She will get to go to girl's camp for the first time this year and is looking forward to that.
Next year everyone will be in an "odd" grade. I will have children in 4 different schools with 4 different schedules...Bring it!
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