On Friday we officially reached the half-way point for the school year. District requirements in our area mandate a 180-day school year and on Friday our little paper frog that hops along the number line reached 90. We are technically a couple weeks ahead of this because we’ve doubled occasionally with lighter weeks. But either way, we passed a mark that makes everyone excited. All the Big Man can think about is the fact that Christmas is very, very close to the 100th day of school. What better incentive is there to learn to count to 100 than that?
I was assessing what I’ve learned so far from this fantastic crazy experience and came up with a few points. I’ll start with the negative first.
Negative: Immaturity: The one major drawback I’ve noticed with the kids so far is a general goofiness/immaturity. One or another of my dear munchkins will start making goofy sounds, bodily noises, or what have you, and the rest shortly join in. Of course much of this is normal for the age, but say what you will, it happens a lot. And they are very good at feeding off of each other.
On the flip side: I do feel that many a time, immaturity can be near to a general innocence. They do not have a problem being themselves. They are not as reserved or inhibited by what would be considered “cool” or “uncool” by peers.
There is the line of appropriate social public behavior and there is the line drawn by peers. To me, the former is necessary to associate well with others in society, the latter is the unfortunate byproduct of kids wanting to grow up too fast and differentiate anyone that doesn’t fit “the standard” the way they draw it.
At this point, if the kids want to have a goofy moment, they have it. I just ask that it not happen in the middle of the grocery store . . . and it really, usually doesn’t.
Positive: They are closer than they’ve ever been before. When you spend nearly 24 hours a day with the same people, you’re either going to drive each other nuts or learn to have a blast with each other – - which has the added bonus of giving you time to perfect the skill of driving mom crazy and thus automatically granting the added bonus of watching at least one person in the family go nuts.
Honestly, it is really nice to see them enjoying each others’ company so much. When the Big Man is gone on a playdate, they both miss him during their individual break times. When he happens to take his nap during their break time, they ask to be able to wake him up so they can play once again.
And they work together. When confronted with something new, they may hesitate, but then figure out a way to make it work as team. Case in point 1: I told Miss Firecracker she needed to pick a sport to practice for the semester. She wanted to try basketball but hesitated because it was new and a bit daunting to her. When she heard Mr. Skywalker could take the class with her she immediately agreed. They stuck together the entire semester, she eventually giving him pointers and he patiently trying to reach that darn basket. Case in Point 2: We went to a local amusement park. The age requirements necessitated that Mr. Skywalker ride on the larger ride. He was not interested at all but Miss Firecracker came to the rescue, promising to help him out and stay with him. They did fine.
Positive: They are happy, and, I think, happier than they were last year.
Perhaps what is the best part is to tuck Miss Firecracker in bed at night and not see that dread/misery of having to face school the next day. Don’t misunderstand me. Her teacher was fantastic. The kids were generally fantastic. But kids are kids and girls are a breed of their own. Like most girls, Miss Firecracker did not enjoy having to deal with some of the issues of dealing with peers. And of course all of these things must be learned and dealt with at some point—next year—but it’s nice, for a moment, to have a little break from the girl drama.
Mr. Skywalker is pretty easy going and would most likely be just as happy/miserable here or at our local school. I say miserable because he is very good at groaning over the homework; happy because he generally just has a positive disposition.
Ninety days down, and ninety days to go.
Baby #4 is at 33 weeks now and kicking up a storm. I pray he stays put where he is as long as possible. They’re so much easier when they’re inside! I ran about seven miles yesterday. And like my dear friend told me, exercising while pregnant is like trying to jump and twist while carrying a bowling bowl. That local public pool is starting to sound nicer every minute.
