Thankful

Well, it is November, the month of thanks, after all. So here are just a couple of things I'm thankful for:

Teachers With 4 kids in school since the age of 4, and one of them in 6th grade now, we've had our fair share of teachers. Some of them were fine, some didn't quite mesh with our kids, and one was just not great. But more than a few were really amazingly terrific. We lucked out this year--we have some really superb teachers. They come up with innovative ways to teach and let the kids show what they learn (Tritan doesn't even have books for science and social studies--his tests can be written tests, presentations, or projects; Apollo learns letters by writing, shaping clay, painting with shaving cream); they modify things so that my kids can preform their best (like letting Paris stand in the back when he gets to fidgety at his desk); they put their arms (literally) around my kids when they are having a hard time and talk to them about what's wrong and how to handle it. I have a hard time not losing it at parent teacher conferences as I realize that these teachers care about my kids almost as much as I do, and are helping them be all they can be.

The kids take after their father. I was driving Athena home from dance the other day and asked her how it went. She proceeded to tell me all of the times the teacher told her she was preforming a step especially well and that their class as a whole did one step better than the more advanced girls. I couldn't help smiling as I realized Athena almost always reports all of the compliments she receives, and very rarely any of the criticisms (which I know she gets as well). Brian is like that. He will come home from work and tell me of all the pats on the back he gets, all of the recognition--though I also know he gets plenty of scolding and blame as well. They both just focus on the good, and build on it. I was a dancer growing up and I took every criticism to heart, internalized it and nursed it, til I was sure I'd never get anything right. I know I did things well--I vaguely recall being complimented on my petite-allegro work--but I always dismissed that. What good was petite-allegro when my turns weren't sharp, and my butt stuck out? To this day I have nightmares of my dance teacher telling me I wasn't good enough. You could demonize my teacher for making me feel that way, but I think it was me that turned her into a monster, spouting out my own internal insecurities. How grateful I am that for the most part the kids take after Brian's way of thinking. Because they are all amazing kids. (BTW--I think I'm pretty amazing most of the time now, too.)