if you were to share your most important story what would it be?
if you could tell just a few things to your children, what would it be?
what would you want people to know about you?
those were a few questions asked at last week's rootstech family history conference.
i want my children to live lives that are HAPPPY, HEALTHY and HOLY.
i want them to FEEL GOOD (particuarly about themselves), BE GOOD, and to DO GOOD.
i want them to know that although i am avery imperfect mother that i wan the very best for them and try to teach them the things that i think are essential for them.
i want them to know they are unique, and amazing and have an important work to do.
i will admit that last week's parent teacher conference was a moment of cloud nine. hey, it doesn't happen often as a parent so i sat in that tiny plastic chair and soaked it up. and now i'm going to record it so i can read it after sibling squabbles and messy rooms forgotten. . .and so they can read it later and know their wonderful traits that we saw in them as kids had only become stronger.
skyler. his teacher said that he was always smiling. even when she knew if they were doing something she knew he didn't love in class, he would always be smiling. she called him a math wizard and said he loves to raise his hand for math questions. when i expressed concerns, again, about his reading she told me not to worry. it would come. and he is so HAPPY and not to stress him out. it would come. skyler is such an easy kid to be around. he is really content to hang out at home. he loves to "play his imagination." it's kind of the greatest thing to watch. tim and i will hang out by the door and hear him making sounds and jumping around his room--i think he mostly fights a LOT of battles with imaginary enemies. he has a very empathetic heart and the other day told me that the kids on the bus were chanting, "you are OLD" to the bus driver. he told them to stop because it would hurt the driver's feelings. they wouldn't. so skyler began to chant, "you are YOUNG!" it pretty much melted my heart. and just last night, he came down while tim and i were watching a movie (let's not even talk about how long it takes to get that kid to bed--all that imagaination i guess) and said, "mom, why do you kill deer? how would you like it if you were just jumping along and someone shot you? and you were just dead?" i was a little at a loss for words. he felt that he had made his point obviously and then said, "so are you still going to kill deer?" and then he did an impression of a deer bounding about and being shot. and i wasn't sure what to say.
davis. his teacher showed me his reading scores and his math scores and his writing sample. she was so happy with all of them and he is doing so super well. but the thing that i really treasured is she said, kind of in passing that he was really honest. i thanked her and told her how important that was to me. she continued and told me if she needed to know what had happened in the class, she would ask davis because she knew he would tell her the truth. she also mentioned that he was very kind. i am so grateful for that. it isn't always the case with siblings;), but we are working on it. he is very self-motivated and responsible. he has very specific taste in sweatshirts and socks. and i almost apologized to his teacher for how often he wears his favorite one. he loves his friends and he has always played with older kids. at this birthday party this week i noticed he had two sixth graders, a fifth grader (he had invited his best friend, a fourth grader who couldn't come) and one third grader. he loves when i brush his hair at night. he loves to snuggle and i hear the constant dunking/shooting of the indoor basketball hoop on the back of his door.
bronwyn. her teacher said every year there are a few kids he wish he could keep for another year and she was one of them. she got to attend the conference with me and at the end he offered again, for her to repeat fifth grade. she has been in the all program this year (advanced learning lab) and has truly loved it. they are currently building robots and she just finished writing that essay that had my jaw hanging open as i finished reading it. i also introduced her to anne of green gables, a dream of mine since i read it myself. she gobbled it up in a couple of days. i passed by the blue sword in my bookshelf and thought, it's almost time. we are going to "new beginnings" for young women's at church in a couple of weeks. it's an introduction for the girls who will become yw this year. frankly, it's giving me crazies thinking about it. but she is a beautiful soul and i know she will love it.