Parent Teacher Conferences

Yesterday was a day filled with parent teacher conferences and flu shots. I kept thinking last night that there were probably people out there that actually dreaded the conferences more than the flu shots, but thankful that wasn't me!

Aric's conference was sweet and to the point and all about preschool boys, boys that need to be reminded to sit still with their hands in their lap and to use their listening ears! Initially, the teacher came at me with all of the things that Aric was not doing, the not listening the first time or sitting still etc. and then with a calmness I said "What can we do to help with this?" She looked up and said "Ohhhh, this is no different from any other preschool little boy!" A relief came over me! Then last night I realized how sweet it was to have things pointed out to work on, things we need to do differently and things we need to keep up on! What a sweet gift of direction!

Abbi's conference was self-directed, this meaning that she had written out all of the things that she feels she is doing well in a class and then the things she needs to work on! She lead the entire conference and her teacher sat and observed. It was an interesting twist, but so cool to see that Abbi had to look in and see for herself the things that she needs to work on AND the things that she is doing well! How fun for her to see for herself, to not have someone lay it all out for her, but to have to be quiet, look in and think for a minute! I kept thinking that this would be a good exercise for me to do, to make a list of all my "classes" and see what I feel I'm doing well and the things I need to work on! I can tell you that my list would have been completely flipped from Abbi's!! She is such a light, such a bright young lady, with humility beyond what we could dream of for our 12 year old! She even wrote down in one of the classes that she needed to work on keeping her mouth shut! I'm sure that that was a gift from God to me, to say even Abbi needs to keep her mouth shut sometimes! Her teacher came right in with "Abbi doesn't require the 7 seconds it takes most people to process the answer before they say it, so she usually knows it right away!" I'm so proud! I know that God has given her gifts beyond what I will ever understand and I'm honored to get to be her Mom!

Alex's conference was the basic go sit down and the teacher saying "How do you think the year is going? And is there any concerns?" Alex had gone into the conference with me. I said "We are loving this year and she seems to be having a great 3rd grade experience!" The teacher looked at Alex and said "How do you think the year is going?" Alex said with the sweetest little smile "WONDERFUL!" The teacher went on to praise Alex for her sweet heart, and how she is so helpful with the other kids and very patient and how she is so bright! I don't know if Mrs. T was referring to "bright" as intelligent, but my heart kept thinking "bright" as in a light for our sweet God! So after 15 minutes of looking at papers and scores on tests and things, we got up from the table and were walking out the door and her teacher stopped me to say "I could only dream of having a whole classroom full of kids like Alex, she makes my day!" I almost cried, but then I hugged Alex and said "She makes my day too!"

Thank you God for these beautiful kids, for their shining bright lights and for their helpful hearts! I am brought to tears that God has entrusted me and Otie to raise these beautiful children and pray that we are constantly pointing them to God in all areas!

After rereading this post, I know that it screams "I'm the proudest mom in the world!" But seriously, I only shared all of this to say, this is all way beyond what Otie and I could have accomplished and we know that this is all a praise to God. That He has created little boys that wiggle a little more than little girls, 12 year olds that have brains that think quick and answers readily available, and 9 year old girls that are helpful and joyful and bright! I am so thankful and filled with joy beyond words!