A Story About a Boy; A Picture of a Skirt

This week, I feel like my Tommy really needed me, and I'm so relieved to say I didn't let him down.  So often, I don't realize until after the fact that he needed something from me.  This time, despite the fact that I'm buried at work this week, I managed to do just the right things at just the right time, and he (we both) really needed that.

Tommy goes to a Montessori school, which was not actually an easy decision for me to make.  I don't believe in 'one size fits all' education, so in many ways, the Montessori philosophy is well-suited to us.  But finding just the right fit for your own kid is a very humbling experience.  (Speaking as somebody who has confidently advised other parents on how to handle their children's educational needs.  Ahem.)  Tommy is intellectually very independent, but quite needy emotionally.   The jury is still out on whether or not both of those needs are being met.  It's a tricky combination, so there are days when everything is working, and then there are other days when things are just 'off' for him.  (PS:  I don't judge you, School; there are plenty of days when I'm fairly certain we aren't hitting the mark either.)

His dad encouraged and guided the first project, and I was on call for the second.  Last night, I really needed to get ready for my parent conferences and report cards this week, prep for my students, I had a million and one chores that still aren't done....oh, you get it.

But instead, I gave Tommy my full attention.  It was the right choice. It was exactly what I really needed to do, and all that other stuff worked out just fine.   It's an exhausting kind of energy, too, because it would be easier and faster for me to just do the dang thing, but that serves nobody, so my actual job was to sit quietly, watch him work, answer his questions (with questions; "How do you think it should go?"), and generally keep the focus on and the motivation up. 

That's two good moves for us and the week's not even over!  Not that I'm keeping score.  *Cough*.

And here's that picture of a skirt!  Haha!  It has nothing to do with anything, except I wrote about buying the embroidered skirt at the thrift, and it was laying on the bed, so I snapped a quick pic of it when I was walking by.  Obviously, I like to keep things exciting around here.