A bit hopeful

Samuel's conference went well. It was just George and I and his teacher. We came up with a very simple point sheet that will not only cover the classroom but also lunch, and those other non-structured times which seem to be very hard on him. She really didn't say anything we didn't know. He likes the spotlight to continually shine on him and if it's not on him, he will get it on him. Alot of times this is by doing things he shouldn't be doing. He does ok socially but the kids are starting to not want to be around him because they are afraid they will get into trouble.

Right now, the stakes are low. He's in kindergarten. He's five. I keep on having to repeat this to myself. Only five years ago, he was inside of me, swimming around. And now, he has to sit quietly and listen, keep his hands to himself and learn to read and write in sentences for seven hours, five days a week for how many more years? When he'd much rather be out exploring, searching for bugs or pretending to be a great sword fighter.

His teacher did tell us a few stories about our boy. Apparently, when he was in the assistant principal's office, he tried to engage her in conversation, repeatedly. She didn't feed into his charm. So our little Samuel asked if he could pray. She told him yes, but not out loud. (stupid government schools...) So he proceeded to move his lips and say his prayer(probably for forgiveness).

Yesterday he saw this same assistant principal in the hall. Samuel yelled out, "Hey, Ms Forbes! Remember me, I was in your office!" No shame or embarrassment, just wanting a relationship with her.

So, I'm a little bit hopeful. If his behavior doesn't improve, I hope the point sheet will at least show us a pattern in his behavior. She did mention that he misbehaves more in the morning when they do reading and writing, than in the afternoon when science and math are going on. No big surprise there.

I am thankful it's the weekend. Two whole days where my boy can run around and be a kid. He can yell, hoop and holler, and be the very energetic boy that he is. Because come Monday, let's not talk about that.