This week was parent parent teacher conference week. Brent dreads parent teacher conferences. Most years he attends the first set of conferences and declines to attend the second. It use to irritate me to no end. Now I'm just a tiny bit jealous that he established that routine about 4 years ago.
The first thing Brent said after conferences were over this year was, "It is like that show Groundhog Day?" I started laughing because I hadn't thought of it in those terms but it really was.
Each of the kids teachers say the same thing. Each of the kids teachers say the same thing that the kids teachers said last year.
Now it sounds like I'm complaining. I'm NOT! I feel very fortunate to have four kids who seem to enjoy school. Not only do they do well academically but they thrive in school. Participating in activities and excelling above grade standards. I feel blessed that this is one area of my life that seems worry free.
However, I have to admit that every year I think to myself this year will be different. This year one of my kids is going to get a bad report. I know this is my pessimistic brain at work. Also, it is being raised with my brother.
I have two brothers one of my brothers is 18 months younger than I. I don't know if he has ever had is IQ tested but I know that growing up he was one of the smartest people I knew. He was one of those super genius kids who had no idea how to get along with all of us less than super genius people. My parents knew he was smart, his teachers knew he was smart, but for some reason he never was able to get along with his teachers. Probably because he was smarter than them.
I guess my little pessimistic brain keeps waiting for H. or A. to become my brother. To become to smart for their own good. Which is totally unfair to them. Parent teacher conference growing up was a mixed bag. My other brother and I would get good reports and the other one.... well not so much. My parents would come home and have to do the whole you need to do better son routine.
In my mind parent teacher conference time is the time to reestablish all the rules. Except in my home now, it isn't...
I know I'm rambling so I'm going to get to the point.
I'm starting to figure out that part of growing up is parking my baggage.
I want to judge and interpret current events based on past events. Except this doesn't really work. The situation may be the same but to many variables are different to solve the equation the same way. Each day is a new day with new experiences to be lived and learned from. When I try to use yesterday's experiences to control today's experiences I end up missing out.
For example, parent teacher conferences. Before every parent teacher conference I think, "Okay, this is the one where I learn what a toad my kid has been." To date this has never happened but I keep expecting it to happen. How incredibly dumb is that?
It just makes me wonder, how many more experiences am I expecting the worse, or thinking one thing is going to happen, and missing the actual joy of the experience.
The first thing Brent said after conferences were over this year was, "It is like that show Groundhog Day?" I started laughing because I hadn't thought of it in those terms but it really was.
Each of the kids teachers say the same thing. Each of the kids teachers say the same thing that the kids teachers said last year.
Now it sounds like I'm complaining. I'm NOT! I feel very fortunate to have four kids who seem to enjoy school. Not only do they do well academically but they thrive in school. Participating in activities and excelling above grade standards. I feel blessed that this is one area of my life that seems worry free.
However, I have to admit that every year I think to myself this year will be different. This year one of my kids is going to get a bad report. I know this is my pessimistic brain at work. Also, it is being raised with my brother.
I have two brothers one of my brothers is 18 months younger than I. I don't know if he has ever had is IQ tested but I know that growing up he was one of the smartest people I knew. He was one of those super genius kids who had no idea how to get along with all of us less than super genius people. My parents knew he was smart, his teachers knew he was smart, but for some reason he never was able to get along with his teachers. Probably because he was smarter than them.
I guess my little pessimistic brain keeps waiting for H. or A. to become my brother. To become to smart for their own good. Which is totally unfair to them. Parent teacher conference growing up was a mixed bag. My other brother and I would get good reports and the other one.... well not so much. My parents would come home and have to do the whole you need to do better son routine.
In my mind parent teacher conference time is the time to reestablish all the rules. Except in my home now, it isn't...
I know I'm rambling so I'm going to get to the point.
I'm starting to figure out that part of growing up is parking my baggage.
I want to judge and interpret current events based on past events. Except this doesn't really work. The situation may be the same but to many variables are different to solve the equation the same way. Each day is a new day with new experiences to be lived and learned from. When I try to use yesterday's experiences to control today's experiences I end up missing out.
For example, parent teacher conferences. Before every parent teacher conference I think, "Okay, this is the one where I learn what a toad my kid has been." To date this has never happened but I keep expecting it to happen. How incredibly dumb is that?
It just makes me wonder, how many more experiences am I expecting the worse, or thinking one thing is going to happen, and missing the actual joy of the experience.
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