it's official...

...I'm a parent.

Walking into the school for Nathan's kindergarten parent/teacher conference yesterday was a little surreal for me.

I sort of felt like I was getting a patch for my Girl Scout sash that says "you're a real parent now!"

 (What would be the symbol for a patch like that? a butt with poop smeared all over it? a snot stained shirt? One of the many "badges" of parenthood?)

You would think that the sleepless nights and pacing-the-floor-with-a-crying-baby moments of their infancy would cause the fact that I'm a parent sink in. But nope. It comes in waves for me, those "wow I'm really a parent and these are my kids and I'm 100% responsible for them!!!" moments.

Nathan's teacher is a first time teacher this year and she's wonderful. I am so impressed with the school in general. I'm grateful that in a day and age where public schools get a bad rep that my children have the privilege of going to a school where they can hopefully thrive.

His teacher (I'll call her Ms.E) was handed this child of mine at the beginning of the school year who was going through some major adjustments. He left his routine of daycare to start school right after Kevin was born. I was hormonal and tired and well things were just crazy at home for awhile (okay...still is a little bit).

Marcus and I were so relieved that Ms.E said she was seeing a huge improvement in Nathan's behavior. He is trying so hard to follow directions and not talk out of turn. The biggest behavior thing we still need to work on more at home is respecting the personal space of other people and keeping hands to ourselves.

Ms.E addressed Nathan's initial behavior issues by placing him at a table alone instead of sharing a table with other students (they sit 4 to a table). It has helped a lot and she hopes to move him back soon. 

Although I knew that she had done this via e-mail, it still broke my heart a little to walk into his class room a few weeks ago and see Nathan alone at the back of the room. I didn't let him see my reaction though. I asked him about how he felt sitting there at his very own big table and he said he likes it. I was relieved that there was no sign of feeling left out.

I did mention my concern about how often Nathan loses some or all of recess (he usually loses 5-15 minutes daily for misbehavior). There seems to be a cycle of him getting in trouble at the end of the day (usually from running in the classroom or play fighting with other students) and as punishment he would lose some of recess for the next day. The next day would come and he would have to stand still during recess and then would once again get in trouble at the end of the day and so forth. I was worried he wasn't getting his "little boy energy" out at recess and that it was a part of the problem of why he would get in trouble later in the day. I asked if there was anything that could be done to break this cycle like maybe having him walk or run in a certain area instead of having to stand still. After all it's the lack of socialization during recess that is the punishment- not having to stand still. She said that it was a good idea and that she can try that.

Academically Ms. E said Nathan is far ahead where they want them to be at this stage and is already trying to write sentences! He is drawing pictures and labeling things, trying to sound them out and spell them the best he can (i.e. flers for flowers) He picks up on sight words quickly and I'm going to start sitting down and helping him read Dr. Seuss books because he's almost ready for that. 

When we are out and about he always points out words he knows and tries to sound out the ones he doesn't. We were in a bathroom the other day that had a sign on the wall (I can't remember what it said) but he was able to figure out some of the words by sounding them out. He gets excited every time I say "Nathan, do you know what you are doing? You're reading!!!"

Ms. E noticed early on that Nathan finished his school work quickly (not rushing through it but just completing it sooner) so she began giving him extra things that he could choose to do which has helped keep him from getting bored. She is eager to challenge him and I love to hear that!

My favorite part of the meeting was looking at Nathan's writing "journal." He would draw and color a picture and then label and write about it.

On one day he wrote "Kevin makes me feel wonderful" with a drawing of his baby brother.

Another day he drew his version of spending the day with me at the family farm on a school field trip. I was scanning the picture that he drew and looking at the little pumpkins he colored and the rain falling from the sky. I noticed he drew a big person and little person standing in a pumpkin patch. The big person had a pink shirt and long hair and I thought Awww! That's me! but then I noticed the face of his "mommy drawing." The eyes and nose and...

...a big huge FROWN!!!

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

(I sooooo wanted to include a picture on here but the teacher kept his journal since the students are still adding to it)

I guess he'll never forget the fun day we shared that might have included us fighting over the umbrella when it started to pour at the pumpkin patch (for the record I didn't care about getting wet but didn't want my phone to get soaked and be ruined, new phone = expensive)

Oh my. I'm haunted by that frowny face. All day it keeps popping up in my mind and I smile a little because it's just so amusing. I hope he remembers all of the smiles and laughs we also shared that day!

Marcus and I left the meeting with a sigh of relief to be honest. It was a rough beginning of the year but Nathan is starting to act like himself more and I am delighted to have him as our son. We are so proud of him and excited for the rest of the school year.

After all, not everyone gets the privilege of wearing the "parent" badge and I'm proud and blessed to wear it.