Friday, August 22, 2008

The bigger picture


Is there some unwritten rule that when you enter the 2nd grade you must turn from loving school to spouting off comments like, "I hate school, I don't want to go today" or "School is so boring, I don't even like it." Or when they return from school and like a good mom you ask, "Honey, how was school today?" only to get a response of, "Dumb!" So I follow up, with a smile of course, "Well what did you do today that was so dumb?" response, "Nothing!"
Seriously, where did this come from? It's been nearly a month since Spencer started 2nd grade and last week on the way to school he said, "Mom I don't even want to go to school today because it's spelling test day and I don't like spelling tests." Really? In 2 years there have only been 3 tests that he hasn't gotten 100+% on, but apparently, yep you guessed it, "They are boring!"




I have to say I was starting to get concerned but thought with a little more sleep and a little time maybe things would get better. Well, yesterday he told me that he's starting to like 2nd grade because he was the first one to finish his word search. He went on to tell me that at first 2nd grade was so fast but now he's getting the hang of it because he's getting really fast.
I guess it's like everything in all of our lives aren't most of us resistant to change? When we have done something before and therefore know what we are doing we feel confident, we are creatures of habit and new things can be scary. Four years ago when we moved to this neighborhood I have to admit I was a little scared of the unknown. Would I fit in with the people at my new church? Would my children have friends here like they did in our old house? How would my children adjust? I remember sitting in church almost crying when my son turned to me and said "Mom I don't like it here, I miss my friend Colby, can we move back to our old house?" I felt so bad since I was sitting there feeling alone too.
Fast forward four years and I can't imagine living anywhere else. I love it here! I love the people at church, love my neighborhood and love where we live. We are so close to the mountains that it's just a short drive away yet we live close to the city so we have all those conveniences as well. Spencer found a new best buddy that he plays with several days of the week, they attended preschool together and have been in the same class in Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades. Tyce is the same way, not long after we moved in another family moved in with a little girl his age and they hit it off immediately, when they were almost 3 years old they would leave the family meeting at church hand in hand and walk to their class. How cute it that? and except for a few moments like these, they get along great and love to play!
So I sit here typing feeling blessed knowing that even though we are afraid the Lord sees a much bigger picture and even when we are scared he helps us with what we need and helps us to find happiness.

3 comments:

Julie said...

So right!!
I was just feeling a bit of the same. Getting ready to move to a new town. I am glad I started Em in a preschool there even though we hadn't moved. I was able to make some friends. Now I won't have that new girl in town pressure to make friends!!

I am glad Spencer is enjoying school. I LOVED School!!! I wish we could make our children realize how wonderful it is to be in school. So much better than working in the 'real' world!!

Lynn said...

Good idea to get her in preschool there before you move. Only a few days until the big day! :)

Anonymous said...

so true! I have a kindergartner, a second grader and a third grader. It is so funny how all their outlooks on school are different. It comes so easy to my oldest that she gets bored, my second grader struggles, but how many friends you have seems to be more important to her right now than any grade - and my kindergartner? Well, she's just happy to be there!