Questions, Comments, Concerns?

WARNING: Strong opinion to follow

Kindergarten round-up/Advanced Kindergarten. First of all, I have to confess I have a negative attitude so that being said I just don't get the requirements that these little 5 year old children are suppose to have mastered. I went to the open house the other day, excited, nervous, worried for my Maddox. He is my middle child and he fits the description perfectly, but that doesn't make his Mama love him any less. Within 1o minutes of the introduction, we were told they need to be potty trained, know how to tie their shoes, button their pants, know their letters upper case and lower case, recognize their numbers and if possible know what sound each letter makes. It took everything I had not to raise my hand and ask so WHAT will you be teaching them? I feel they are practically expected to come to school and become part of the craziness that has become the normal in today's society. It's all about ISTEP pass-plus numbers, administration goals, school reputation, which is all good but what happened to looking at each child as an individual? What happened to thinking that parents know best? What happened to researching how a child learns and building on their strengths?

All that being said, I know that Maddox will be fine, but it does make me wonder about those kiddo's that don't have a strong foundation at home. Again, they will feel like failures to authority. They will have no voice in a world that passes them by because they are different. They will have another standard forced upon them at such a young age resulting in yet another statistic. They will be labeled. It truly breaks my heart!

In my happy little world, we would focus on loving others instead of focusing on how many little children can read at the end of the 1st semester in Kindergarten.

Shhhh, Can you hear someone whispering?

Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposes go forth in action; actions form habits; habits decide character; and character fixes our destiny. — Tryon Edwards

How true is this! Attitude is one of the many things that I struggle with, whether with the person driving the speed limit in the fast lane, children needing my attention when I am trying to read one paragraph from the newspaper, or my husband asking me where something is located in our home when he has lived here just as long as I have (in his defense, I do like to move things around). I am convinced that our attitude is the daily battle between angels and demons. God is gently whispering to me to be an example of his son, love him, love others while it seems that Satan is screaming at the top of his lungs, "PEOPLE ARE SO STUPID!" Who's voice am I going to let lead my day, purpose, action, habit, character, destiny? Being a mother of 3 small children, ages 7, 5, and 3 it seems more difficult to always have thoughts that are of eternal significance. It's exhausting to just have day to day conversations with my little ones. No joke, in me sitting down at the computer, I have been asked can I have a drink, can I have cereal, stopped a fight between brothers and sent a boy to bed for whining. All in a time period of about 2 minutes of me trying to type this blog. Did I say exhausting? Yet, what more important lesson to teach my children than the love of God with my thoughts and mostly my actions! Today I have failed miserably but the good thing about family is that we love each other, forgive each other, tolerate each other, and learn from each other.

Praying that tomorrow I can be a better teacher!

Control Freak in Remission?

Those who know me well know that I am a little bit of a control freak! In my defense, without lists, organization, authority, my world would be crazy. But to play the devils advocate, my world could also be stress-free, spontaneous, and a whole lot more fun. So where is the happy medium? This is one area that God has showed me several times that playing with my children is more important to them than having clean jammies on at night. Having my husband come home to a peaceful/loving home is more important than if it can pass the white glove test. Taking the time to call a friend is more satisfying than crossing something off my to do list. Control is a strange thing, because for the most part experts say trying to control one thing just clarifies that you are out of control in another area of your life. I would have to say that's a true statement for my life, but something that the almighty is making me more aware of, which is letting go and letting God.