Imagine me on a hay bale, on a wagon behind a tractor, surrounded by people singing, “Pumpkin, pumpkin, I’ve been thinking…” and I realize: This is great but I just don’t feel well. I foolishly forgot gloves and a hat this morning. We drove out into the wilderness to a great pumpkin patch and I was freezing. My immune system gave in.
Aside from that I’ve been knee deep in parent/student conferences lately. This takes surprising amounts of energy. I’m learning the lingo:
1) Instead of saying, “your kid is ‘stressed’ out” you have to say ‘anxious.’
2) ‘Slow’ is never ok, instead it’s ‘meticulous.’
3) A lazy kid needs to start working on his/her ‘leadership skills.’
4) A kid who cries when recess is over is ‘working on his/her transitions.’
5) We must do everything we can to ‘empower’ a shy child.
6) Informing parents that their kid is a butthead is considered a conference with ‘hard messages.’
7) An extremely gifted reader would not do well going all the way up to the third grader’s room to read…the third graders would not socialize well with a kindergartner.
8) A child being extra hard on herself is usually due to birth order. The oldest child excels. The middle child tries to compete with the oldest yet secretly yearns for the nurturing of the youngest. The youngest child is capable and competent but devastated when their aspirations fall short due to academic immaturity. (More than half my students come from families of three kids).
9) Parents of kindergarteners are more concerned about how their child is doing socially than academically. (Do people like my kid? Does my kid do mean things? Is my child a future sociopath?) This all changes when they reach first grade. (I understand my child has no friends, but CAN SHE READ?!)