Mundane

Maybe this will go down like a good Lawrence story. I'll just start typing and realize I have a very entertaining life and think of some amazing moments to share. It really doesn't matter what I write, so long as I get the drug of having written. I've had a mommy night. I watched two episodes of "Parenthood" and the season finale of "House" while continuing to fold the 8 loads of laundry I had procrastinated. Jody came down to tell me good night. I wrapped my toes around him and just smiled into his eyes, knowing he's the only one who can make me feel like a school girl. Then I had to blog. I could stay up all night on nights like this. Loving my life and thinking about the greatness of God, people, flowers, chocolate and the internet.
Eden's Grandpa Barry got her a book, eh, two years ago. It's "The Adventures of Frog and Toad." Suddenly she loves to read it. It's the first book that Eden reads just for the fun of reading. I find her piled up reading it and chuckling her way through it. It's a breakthrough. There is no magic like watching my girl with a book open as her eyes slide from left to right and expressions play across her face. First grade has been a real journey for us. Eden's understanding of the purpose of school started a little differently than my brain could process. She began the year with a little folder to put "incomplete papers" in. Well, she just considered it a great place for things she never got around to finishing. Naturally, it all came home to roost with her homework. Ms. Baxter had no alternative but to send home the biggest pile of half finished junk you've ever seen. This kind of halfway (I'm using a nice term here, take note people!) approach lasted until the first parent teacher conference. Ms. Baxter (the Great) told Jody that Eden was lagging in basically every subject. We had a come to Jesus meeting the next night and a rare level of communication was achieved. I said "Eden, did you know that you actually need to do well in 1st grade in order to move on to 2nd grade with your friends?" My daughter had no idea. I just have to say I felt like I was talking to a marshan because when I was in school, if someone had told me I was going to have to settle for being less than "smartest kid in the class" I might as well have been told to wear a dunce cap. She really thought she was going to school for story hour and braiding her friends hair. I shared this with my mother who instantly identified with Eden. I found it astounding because she was valedictorian of her class. She told me she never even tried in school until junior high when a teacher expected more of her. Great, so I got a mini Mom.... not only was this exasperating but shocking. She drove me crazy as a kid, always slashing red marks all over my writing and now here she was admitting she was a half hazard student herself. I almost wish she'd never tell me any more true stories. They're too overwhelming of a contrast against the mother/teacher I remember. At any rate, we started incentivizing progress and Eden jumped in and started putting her nose to the grindstone. Still, reading was such a struggle. We slugged our way through the required 30 minutes of reading each night, thinking the day that Eden would ever read for the joy of it was a la la dream. Now, we've had the breakthrough and made a trip to the bookstore for another Frog and Toad book and a horse book and a pony book. This is a landmark moment for us, because I always get books from thrift stores and the book sale at the library but I feel like I have this hairline opening and I don't want to screw it up with another dry history book on the Founding Fathers, a random chapter book way too advanced for her or Junie B. Jones (the worst kids books ever). She read all afternoon. Amazing. For this, I tip my hat to Ms. Baxter and all of the teachers at Flagstaff who have worked with Eden. Anyone who knows us both well, knows that Eden is marvelous, no fantastic but she can say or do just about anything school related in such a way that it will drive me insane with frustration. By the same token, I can say just about anything in such a way that will automatically lock Eden up and put her into "non-learning" mode. If a person wants to see me cringe, just tell me I should homeschool her. OMG!!!!!!! So, it's been a year of huge accomplishment. She's on the right track. It's just a load off of my shoulders. I am so thankful, so glad, so happy and I'm really anticipating summer. It's going to be a blast. I just know it.