Being a parent is exhausting. Every moment is centered around your children. I dare not use the words "spare moment" as there never is. Every extra minute you find for yourself is stolen from time that could be spent with your kids, or it is stolen from the time you should spend sleeping. Alas, I find myself writing after everyone else is asleep. I am not complaining, although it may sound very much like I am. The rewards far outweigh the sacrifices. We put every bit of effort into our children when they are young, and the payoff may take years to see. You blame your self for their shortcomings, pat your self on the back for their successes, and smile when you see them think for themselves. But in the end, they are like a wind up toy; you wind them up for their entire youth, and then let them go and choose their own path.
It is the first work day after the end of daylight savings time. It is lighter in the morning on my way to work then it has been in weeks. The air is cool, the sky clear, and leaves blowing softly from the trees and landing in the road before violently being twirled back up into the wake of the cars headed towards me. I find that I am a bit anxious. On my mind is Apollo's first parent-teacher conference. I am nervous about what his teacher will say. I am worried that he will need improvement in so many areas. I am worried that there will be behavioral issues. I am certain that his mom will point the finger at me for all of his shortcomings.
The day drags on and at 1:30pm, I race to the school to meet Melanie, Orion and Apollo. I check the time every couple minutes as it nears 2:00pm. I pace. Melanie mocks me. I pace some more. The door opens. We are greeted by Apollo's teacher and invited into the classroom. My heart races! This is it, the moment when all my sins will be exposed. Will it be his sarcasm?…name calling?…teasing or bullying?…maybe his teacher will recommend a tutor to get him caught up to the rest of the class. I take my place in the hot seat and wait for the condemning eyes to fall upon me.
"Yes…Apollo…" Maestra Nelson begins to speak, "lets see here..." She shuffles some papers around and then pulls out his test results and progress report for the first trimester. My heart stops beating. I hold my breath, then slowly exhale. She begins to speak and tell us about Apollo's progress. For the next few minutes, while she is speaking, I find myself looking at the report to make sure it was Apollo's, as the teacher spoke to us about his test results.
It would seem that Apollo is a rather bright young man. He aced every subject with flying colors. Keep in mind that he is taught 100% in spanish. Now I find myself feeling flush with embarrassment. I did not expect such a good report. I know my son is amazing, but I am certainly biased in my assessment of him, and I often feel that I am the only one that thinks he is as smart as he is. At one point his teacher, Maestra Nelson, asked if Apollo went to kindergarten last year, obviously impressed by some of his abilities. I could not have been any prouder than I was at that moment. Yes, I know this is only kindergarten and I know that it is only his first trimester, but it is nice to see that all our hard work is paying off. It is reassuring to see him start off his years of learning on such a strong note.
Melanie has done such an amazing job with Apollo in the years prior to school, by reading to him, teaching him to write letters, and teaching basic skills that he would need for school. Now that he is in school, I try to do his homework with him every night, and try to keep it fun and interesting and praise him for efforts. On the nights that I work late, Melanie does his homework with him. It is a team effort to be sure. As parents, this is when we pat ourselves on the back. We have given him a good foundation and I hope we can continue to give him the tools he needs to succeed in school and in life.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the areas that Apollo could use some improvement. Believe it or not, it is all in the behavioral area. He is not bad, nor overly obnoxious. Maestra Nelson pointed out that he can be very talkative at times, and can be a bit hyper, especially with his best friend Jasmine. Ah yes, Jasmine, I will dedicate another post to his special friendship with this delightful young lady. Next to the box that says, 'Listens to classroom instructions' Maestra Nelson wrote the comment; "Separate from Jasmine." His teacher did say that when Apollo is out of sorts, all she has to do is ask him once to straighten up and he falls back in line immediately and stays that way. He really is a good kid and his teacher genuinely seems to adore him.
Of course the entire time we are in conference, Apollo and Orion are playing together in the classroom. Orion yelled out a couple times. Maestra Nelson commented on how loud he was. At the end of the conference she made the comment about how different Apollo and Orion's personalities seemed to be. Orion at this point is climbing the cubbies and being obnoxiously loud.
I could tell she was in awe of his level of energy. He spends a couple hours in the class on Monday's when Melanie volunteers, but he is usually much more reserved during that time.
"How old is he?" she asked while watching Orion jumping around.
"He is two. Maybe you will have him when he starts kindergarten here in three years," I reply.
We are outside the class at this point and we are all watching Orion climb the hand rail while screaming in delight. Maestra Nelson's eyes grow wide, weary from over 30 years of teaching.
She concedes, "I think I shall retire before then."
The day drags on and at 1:30pm, I race to the school to meet Melanie, Orion and Apollo. I check the time every couple minutes as it nears 2:00pm. I pace. Melanie mocks me. I pace some more. The door opens. We are greeted by Apollo's teacher and invited into the classroom. My heart races! This is it, the moment when all my sins will be exposed. Will it be his sarcasm?…name calling?…teasing or bullying?…maybe his teacher will recommend a tutor to get him caught up to the rest of the class. I take my place in the hot seat and wait for the condemning eyes to fall upon me.
"Yes…Apollo…" Maestra Nelson begins to speak, "lets see here..." She shuffles some papers around and then pulls out his test results and progress report for the first trimester. My heart stops beating. I hold my breath, then slowly exhale. She begins to speak and tell us about Apollo's progress. For the next few minutes, while she is speaking, I find myself looking at the report to make sure it was Apollo's, as the teacher spoke to us about his test results.
It would seem that Apollo is a rather bright young man. He aced every subject with flying colors. Keep in mind that he is taught 100% in spanish. Now I find myself feeling flush with embarrassment. I did not expect such a good report. I know my son is amazing, but I am certainly biased in my assessment of him, and I often feel that I am the only one that thinks he is as smart as he is. At one point his teacher, Maestra Nelson, asked if Apollo went to kindergarten last year, obviously impressed by some of his abilities. I could not have been any prouder than I was at that moment. Yes, I know this is only kindergarten and I know that it is only his first trimester, but it is nice to see that all our hard work is paying off. It is reassuring to see him start off his years of learning on such a strong note.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the areas that Apollo could use some improvement. Believe it or not, it is all in the behavioral area. He is not bad, nor overly obnoxious. Maestra Nelson pointed out that he can be very talkative at times, and can be a bit hyper, especially with his best friend Jasmine. Ah yes, Jasmine, I will dedicate another post to his special friendship with this delightful young lady. Next to the box that says, 'Listens to classroom instructions' Maestra Nelson wrote the comment; "Separate from Jasmine." His teacher did say that when Apollo is out of sorts, all she has to do is ask him once to straighten up and he falls back in line immediately and stays that way. He really is a good kid and his teacher genuinely seems to adore him.
"How old is he?" she asked while watching Orion jumping around.
"He is two. Maybe you will have him when he starts kindergarten here in three years," I reply.
We are outside the class at this point and we are all watching Orion climb the hand rail while screaming in delight. Maestra Nelson's eyes grow wide, weary from over 30 years of teaching.
She concedes, "I think I shall retire before then."
