Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Take a Deep Breath and Relax

It's been quite a busy and mind draining week and a half.  I want to start this post with the thought: Relax, this life is a learning experience.  The hard times you are experiencing will pass.  Learn from them.  Allow your children to learn from them.

Last week I attended The Foundations of Montessori class.  I learned a lot.  Some of it wasn't what I expected to learn.  It was one of those experiences where it is clear you are in the class you are in with the people you are meant to be with at that time.  I gained some insights that I will be able to use for a long time.  I got to a point in the class that I was so emotionally overwhelmed that I felt like shutting down.  It made me realize how overwhelmed one of my children gets every day of his life!  I felt an empathy for him that I needed to feel.  I also was given a few tools to help him function from day to day.  Unfortunately, he is not ready to accept this help right now.  Hopefully we can make progress in the future.

Yesterday, I looked at another child's grades and he was getting either a D or an F in 3 of his classes.  I decided to look further in to the issue and realized that he has a serious lack of organizational skills.  It's so hard as a parent not to want to do everything it takes to help him bring his grades up.  Of course I want him to succeed.  However, I have to present the skills he needs for organization and let him practice until he finds a system that works for him.  In the long run, his grades today means nothing if he doesn't learn the skills it takes to achieve it for himself.  So I am trying to relax and allow my children to learn the lessons of life.  It's so hard to see them fail.  But isn't that how we all learning our most amazing things?