What my son learned in elementary school

My son has four days left in elementary school.  Four days and then he becomes a stinky, hormonal middle schooler.  I was lucky enough to have my children with me at elementary school, and having my baby go on to middle school is taking it's toll on this mommy.  Not only is he going off to be with big kids, but I won't be there to keep an eye on him.  I've had one of my babies close by for the last nine years, and now they will both be on their own (so to speak).  I know this is harder on me than him and he is ready for the change.  I know this because of what he learned in elementary school.

My son learned to read, write, and do math in elementary school.  He knows the constitution, the history of our country and state, and how to write a paragraph.  He learned to add, subtract, multiply, and divide.  I know he's ready for the academic challenges of middle school.  But my son learned so much more than this.

He learned that life isn't fair.  He learned the smart kids, the well behaved kids, the kind kids, aren't the ones who earn the awards.  He learned working hard and doing well isn't going to get you that trophy or that medal.  He learned the students who really deserve the recognition don't get it.  Really, just ask him.

And in spite of this, he learned working hard and doing what's right is important, even if you don't get the recognition.  Knowing what is right, and doing what is right, that feeling you get, that is more important than the piece of pizza at Principal's Lunch or the piece of paper at the award ceremony.  Amazingly, though he hasn't been recognized for three years for never getting in trouble, having good attendance, or having a grade below a C, being a good student is important to him.

So tonight I thank the teachers at his school.  Not for being supportive (though there were a couple who were), or for being a good role model, but for teaching him a lesson.  Sometimes it really is the "bad kids" who get all of the credit...and the "good kids", well, they are just good because they know it's the right thing to do.  I know this is a lesson my son will carry with him for the rest of his life.  I just wish he would have learned it a different way.

So, That's How They Do It

I got the great idea this summer of having my nine year old son (well, eight at the time) join the cast of Miracle on 34th Street.  I mean, how hard can it be, right?  They have four months to rehearse and get everything set up.  This is going to be one of the easiest things I've done! Ha! Ha! Ha!

I learned several very important lessons and I'm going to do you a favor and share them with you, because I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did.

First of all, don't sign your kid up for a play that your friend's children are also in.  When friends know certain things, like you have taken a couple of cake classes, maybe, you end up getting signed up to do certain things, like make a giant four foot prop cake for example.  When asked to make this four foot prop cake, I thought, no problem, I can do this.  20 hours later with the help of my step-mom, we had a beautiful four foot (OK, maybe five) pink and white very sparkly birthday cake.  Phew!  My part is done (and I learned a ton about paper mâché and tissue paper flowers!)

Oh, wait, what's that?  Full dress rehearsal is in six days and half of the actors don't have costumes?  Oh, of course I'll stay and spend seven hours (along with my step-mom) to make costumes.  I mean, really, I'm not going to leave my nine year old son at sixteen hours of rehearsal this weekend by himself (second mistake...leave him there!), so what else do I have to do?

Third mistake..."Oh, you're a teacher?  Great!  We could really use your help backstage to help keep the kids quiet.  Wear all black to the final dress rehearsal."  Um, oh, OK.  This is the part that I think is actually going to be the hardest, but it hasn't happened yet.  Try keeping thirty children ranging in age from nine to 65 quiet for five hours.  Yay!  That's going to be fun!  (Insert sarcastic face here.)

Fourth mistake (and this is just reiterating the third mistake), staying with said nine year old son at every dress rehearsal (they started at four hours once a weekend, ended with eight hours twice a weekend).  "We need a gavel, can you make one?"  "Does anyone have stuff for the three men in a tub?"  "These red suspenders are too long...can you help shorten them?"  "I can't find my costume!"  "Can you make 14 red envelopes addressed to Santa by tomorrow?"  "Can you help me create a teaching guide for teachers?"

Can you help me find my bottle of wine? 

So, yes, this has been a great experience and my son (and I) has really learned so much.  Being the drama kid that he is, he has had a great time and is excited for show time.  I really have a lot more respect for all of the shows that Tahoe Players has put on in the past...I really had no idea how hard it was!

I can't wait for my son to be the shining star (well, shining support character) in the fourteen (no, that wasn't a typo) shows he's in, I know he'll do great in his first big production!  And truth be told, I secretly hope I hear someone whisper, "Did you see that amazing cake?"  "Look at how cute those letters to Santa are!" or "Wow!  Those red suspenders are amazing!" ;)

I Don't Believe in New Year's Resolutions

So, we are almost two weeks into 2012 and people keep asking me what my New Year's resolutions are.  I don't believe in New Year's resolutions.  I have learned that for me, New Year's resolutions are just a set up for failure.  I can't logically set a resolution for myself that I'm going to stick with for 365 days just because it's January 1st. 

I have, however, set some personal goals for myself.  Not resolutions, but things I would like to do to better myself.  Not for a year, but for life. 

One goal I have set is to spend more time outside with my kids, especially on break.  I've found that it's so easy to spend time cleaning my house during break (and who doesn't love a clean house?), but while I'm inside cleaning my house, my kids are inside watching TV, playing video games, you get the picture.  So, luckily for us, winter break was amazing.  The weather was so nice, we were outside almost every day.  We went on walks around the Marina, went on bike rides, spent time together.  This was one of those breaks that I will never forget.  I've learned that although my house isn't spotless, the dirt will be there another day.  My kids have grown so much.  I don't want to regret cleaning my house instead of playing with my kids.  I don't want my kids to say that their mom was too busy cleaning the house to play with them. 

So, this is my promise to myself and my kids.  Not for a year, but forever.  I will never, ever put cleaning the house before playing with you again.  Really, I'm the only person who notices the dust on the table.  Some day, I'm going to miss the days that I didn't have time to keep the house spotless.