What a great year for my boys!
It's been one of new beginnings and learning for Zac: a new start at a new school with new types of schedules and multiple teachers with different teaching styles; learning to change and adapt to a block schedule, meeting homework deadlines and facing the challenge of organization, something that doesn't come easily to him. But he's had a great time, most days he would come home saying his day was "awesome." He's made some quality friends that I love having come around the house. He's happy and excited and has told me more than once that in my efforts to prepare him, I made middle school sound horrible, but, in fact, he's loved it. He is a confident kid, faithful, smart and with a good heart and a beautiful optimism about him that help him through those "horrible" bits, if he even notices them at all.
Ben has continued to strive to blast through limits and break records. He finished up the 5th grade math curriculum during the third quarter of the year (mind you, he was in 4th grade this year), and started in on 6th grade math and hands-on equations. He made power-point presentations with quizzes on curriculum the class was working on--for fun. Every parent I meet who finds out I'm Ben's mom says, "Oh! I hear Ben's really smart!" Smart or not, he sure has made that reputation for himself, all while still remaining a great friend, helping peers in their work, assisting his teacher when he finished up his work early. I don't know how he balances know-it-all with great-funny-guy, but somehow he does!
Josh proved to be every bit like his brothers in his ability to organize himself this year...not his strongest skill! We had a couple of mornings where he had to go late to school to finish up homework that had been sitting in his folder for a couple of weeks. But he remains our "absentminded professor!" He is so bright, plowing through books, flying through math pages, it's hard to keep him interested and motivated. I am grateful for a teacher that knew how to foster his curiosity while keeping within age-appropriate subject matter. Fortunately, he never has a bored day at school because he is incredibly social; the first thing kids tell me when I am introduced as Josh's mom is, "Josh is so funny!" He loves to get a laugh, hang out with his pals, and just be wacky. He banded together with a few other boys this year and was constantly begging for playdates with any one of them.
Luke had a fantastic year! I had so many reservations about putting him in school with his late-spring birthday and his sensitivities, but he's bloomed and blossomed and shown me that he was ready! He is reading, adding, subtracting and although it makes him "tired," he loves going to school. He had a really great class, a class eager to learn and get to work, and I hope he ends up with many of them next year. It created such a positive learning environment for all the kids. I am so proud of how well Luke has done, all the hurdles he's jumped and the progress he's made. He struggles with perseverance when things get hard, but then he will completely bust through some difficult task and prove to himself and us that it's not so hard after all. Although we still see some of his challenging behaviors, like emotional melt-downs, at home, he reins it in at school, and that has helped him figure out how to rein in at home too. He's so excited to eat lunch at school next year and have TWO recesses!
This week on Tuesday, Adam cheered on Zac as he received a medal for maintaining above a 3.5 GPA for the year at the Team 642 Awards Ceremony. I was able to attend his team picnic and end-of-year celebration on Wednesday. On Friday, I helped in Ben, Josh and Luke's classrooms for their end of year parties, needing a nap when I got home in the afternoon...how do those incredible teachers do it all day, everyday?! It is great to be there in the boys' classrooms from time to time, seeing them in their element, experiencing living in their day-to-day. The boys have such great teachers, education support and peer groups.
I have to admit I shed a few tears this afternoon as the school day and year drew to a close. It was a year ago, but I feel like it was yesterday I was sitting in 6th grade orientation, and now the year is over and Zac's in the middle of middle school and the other boys are all moving on, Josh into the upper grades, Ben to be among the kings of the school--5th graders (!), Luke heading off for full-day, away from me all day. Even Tommy will start preschool in the fall. Why does time have to go so fast? I love these days with my wonderful boys, and I love the schools they attend with the educators they have had!
Summer is ahead, glorious summer, hooray! And with all that we have packed into it, I am sure it will be over in a blink of they eye too. So I am praying that I will take time to live in these moments, really live in them...be present, so that when the days are gone so quickly, I will be able to remember and say that I was there.
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