Mother's Day, and so much more. . . .

Spring has possibly sprung. . . . or so it seems this week.  What’s new in the Wuest household?

Alex: He is quickly approaching the end of his 2^nd grade year; sometimes I wonder how that is even possible.  He has made many leaps and bounds this year academically, I think his true personality with regards to school and academics have shown through in that he is content to do the work that is necessary, and move on.  I did challenge him the last quarter of the year to pull a few more S+’s than S’s just to see what his response been, and he has pleasantly surprised me with mustering up some motivation to end the school year on a good note.  He is eagerly waiting for the summer months to arrive so that he and grandpa can head out fishing at their leisure and work on the garden.    

Recently many of his classmates celebrated first communion, which has created some tension in our house.  Given we are Protestants attending a Catholic based school system I figured this moment would likely come.  Alex has a hard time grasping why he can’t take communion and rather receive a blessing from the priest; hopefully as he gets older he’ll understand the differences between our two religions a little better.  When you are 8 years old, religion can seem like a black and white issue.  I attend the kid’s masses at school when each of their class is responsible for planning the liturgy.  It’s often accompanied by an eye roll or Laura beckoning me to kneel or make the sign of a cross; or it can be Laura asking for some assistance on specific prayers.  Alex understands we are different in that respect, Laura hasn’t matured to the point to understand that at this point-she knows more about Catholicism than I do.  People wonder then why we opted to send our kids to this particular school, and my only response can be is that it just felt right when we toured the school and were considering our options.  The value of the educational experience outweighed the fact that the kids would be a ‘minority’ in the system; and I felt that expanding their religious views, whether they were our own or not, was a good thing.  Meanwhile I’ve taken a few Christian life development classes myself that specifically focus on the differences between our religions and Catholicism-yes, I do this in my free time.  I feel it’s important for me to have a clearer understanding of the differences.  As my kids progress through the school system and see other peers reaching milestones such as First Communion, I can try and help them understand that they aren’t left out of an experience-and rather just experience something in a very different way. 

Laura: she has exceeded my academic expectations tenfold in Kindergarten.  I think back to when I was considering holding her back due to her summer birthday, and I honestly don’t know where she’d be had I done that.  Her reading improves weekly and sheepishly I can say that it isn’t through my own doing.  We read on a nightly basis, and I’ve went through sight words with her religiously but when it comes to just picking up a book and starting to read, she has done that all on her own.  She has on the other hand started to have some challenges with the social aspect of school.  Her once proclaimed best friend and she have had some rough patches.  It’s so hard as a parent to help your child reason with why other kids act and say the things they do-let alone your own child’s words and actions.  Growing up is difficult, sometimes you find yourself growing apart from people you once learned to lean on, and at 5 you don’t know how to respond to those feelings.  I wish I could say that this will get better with time, but I think specifically as a girl-these struggles are likely the mainstay.  The only things we can do as parents is lead by example, and guide them to treat others with love and respect no matter what.  She too is looking forward to summer, swimming, and just enjoying the outdoors.  We have been taking to the road, her on bicycle and me walking-and the two of us are at a pretty level pace for now. This provides some really good opportunities for us to talk.  Not that Laura needs help in that department, that child talks non-stop from the time we get in the car to head to school until we get home at night.  I have some wonderful resources at work with regards to child behaviors/early education, one of my colleagues suggested that I get Laura a journal so she can write about her days in it.  She doesn't write every day, but usually on the days where she’s got some pent up feelings or having a really great day.  Since she’s only 5 I rely on pictures and kindergarten spelled words to paint the picture of the day-it is a window to her soul.  Most days talk about recess, afterschool, or lunch.  One day she wrote “My mom yeld at me”.  For those of you with kids who like to talk a lot, but don’t always vocalize what they are truly thinking-try the journaling thing, it has really helped me to identify Laura’s inner personality and her to have an outlet for her feelings.  Her class recently planned their first mass, here she is reading her lines to the entire school.  

Ainslee Ruth: I think she grows sassier by the minute, but such is the life of a 3 year old.  I love this age though; it really sets all of my kid’s personalities apart at this point.  She loves riding bike, she loves blowing bubbles, and she loves being able to just hang out at home whether it’s with Dad, Mom, or one of her grandma’s.  She really is laid back, has very little sense of urgency about anything at all.  For this reason, we’re going to have her do 3k this upcoming year, rather than enlist in 4k.  She too has a summer birthday, at the end of August.  After writing that paragraph about Laura you would think I’d be all gung-ho on sending her, but not this one.  Her personality is such that she will be just as well being one of the older kids in her class.  I don’t like to compare the kids, but she really has Alex’s take it or leave it personality for the most part.  Every once in a while Laura tries to get her to conform, but she’s pretty good at holding her own.  She’s a bean pole, 39” tall at 28 lbs.  She makes quite the scene walking down the street in what she wears-but trust me, if I could find something that fit her waist that was relative in length to her knees, I would!  I think it’s safe to say she didn’t get my build ;) .  Ains got her ears pierced recently and is proud as can be.

Wow, seems like a lot in this post, the past few months have been busy to say the least.  Jason and I recently celebrated our 11^th wedding anniversary, we’re getting closer to the point of saying that we've spent half of our lifetime together.  It has been a year of transition between both of our jobs and his school, but we have made it work.  I am looking forward to a month and half off of work over the summer, and shorter work days next year that revolve around the kids school schedule.  Life really is a series of taking one step forward, two back, etc.  Overall progress is the key, if we are moving in a forward direction collectively; we’ll eventually get there together, and hopefully intact.