Better things on the Horizon

It has been a tough start to 2010 for my eldest son. Sometimes I forgot how really hard it can be to be 12. He has been acting up at school - nothing serious: not finishing his homework, goofing around in the class. Things like that.

Last week, he and 15 of his closest friends decided it would be funny to laugh at a teacher as she walked away from them. Nothing was said. It was simply laughter. It was enough to trigger her sending the pack of boys to the office and the principal handing them an 'in school suspension'. I had never heard of the concept but, essentially, it means that you sit in the principal's office for the day and do your work.

We had no choice but to react. Hard. He was prevented from travelling to his hockey tournament and had to hear from me (as the manager) about how the team was doing. He lost all home privileges as well.

This week, you have turned things around and I am really proud of him. He has been getting excellent feedback from the teachers. Homework has been getting done. He has been respectful and kind - even to his brothers and that is sometimes hard for the eldest of three.

I am completely confident that we can turn this around with some TLC.

Maybe it is true what they say: sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you can climb your way back up to the top.

Getting Back at It

With three children life has gotten busy on me. The days are sometimes long and yet the weeks whip past. It was only yesterday that I can remember the excitement - and fear - of my first pregnancy. I have allowed the little things in life to slip, things like photos and jotting down memories and chosen to live the experience rather than scribing it.

Now, as I see my youngest off in grade one and asking questions about the past I realise that scribing and photos - those are not the little things. Cleaning my house and walking the dog - those are the little things.

I will try, starting this week, to log the experiences of life a little better. Tools like a blog make it so darn easy. That way, when my grade one student asks me to tell him about the day of his birth I will remember more than running across the park with two two year olds on my hips and asking my neighbour to help out because I was going to be a bit busy for the next few hours. Sorry Keegan, that is all I have for now but I will log your life from this point on.