He's not ready to leave Belview. And I don't blame him one bit.
When we moved here I didn't check the schools out. I drove up five times trying to find a house and by the last visit, I was determined. We ended up in this subdivision which had never been the plan. We were used to country life and that's how we wanted to keep living. But when the realtor drove us into the neighborhood I felt peace. I knew it was the right thing. It wasn't the thing I'd wanted, but it was right.
Fast forward five years.
I never could have known how much we would love our neighborhood, our ward, but most of all our school. If your kid/s go to a good school you know what I'm talking about. There is nothing like a good educational experience.
So thank you Belview teachers and faculty. We love you. Enough that you make an eleven year old boy cry in the middle of the night. That's deep stuff.
And thank you Heavenly Father for leading us where we couldn't know we needed to be.
But that's not really what my post is about. My post is about recognition. I was never nominated to be in the gifted and talented program in grade school. I was never the kid winning the spelling bee or the good citizen award. Have you ever noticed how some kids win all the awards and others are the ones clapping as they do. Well, that was O.S. today. His good friend won the Ruritan Citizenship award. O.S. clapped hard. His other friend received the National Physical Fitness award and got straight A's for the year. O.S. clapped hard.
But as I sat there watching my boy I felt sad. We recognize one kid for good citizenship? That seems wrong. But we clap for the kid anyway. Husband and I not the kind of parents who try to make everything fair for our kids. As a matter of fact Husband can often be heard saying, "Oh well, life isn't fair." The kids hate it.
Today as I watched my kid cheer everyone else on I felt sad because he's a really great person and a lot of people don't know that. He's a quiet, thoughtful kid. He's not the kid who's going to go out of his way to help a teacher walking down the hall. He may not ever get straight A's the entire year. He'll probably never be in the gifted and talented program. I doubt any of my kids will.
But that doesn't make him any less amazing.
O.S. is the kind of kid who won't stop reading after he's finished his column in the scriptures and it's his sister's turn, because he feels good and he wants to continue. He's the kind of guy who always does what's right and internalizes it when one of his friends is making bad choices. He's the kind of boy who out of the blue, cleans all the dishes after dinner when it wasn't his turn so that we can all have more time to hang out. He's the kind of child that brings me a blanket and snuggles under it with me as we watch a movie. He doesn't swear or say unkind things. He works hard to be a good student. He's a boy scout, a hiker, a soccer player, a leader, a loyal friend.
No, I wasn't in Gifted and Talented. I didn't win Homecoming Queen, or Student Body President (I didn't run), or Most Likely To Succeed. But I did do a lot of other things. Honor Society, Drama Club, Basketball Co-captain. And they all took hard work. A lot of hard work.
I don't want you to feel too sorry for O.S. He did get recognized for A/B honor roll. Dang that Reading grade! And on Monday he's headed to the 'Ham to spend and idyllic summer on Grandma and Grandpa's farm.
He may not know it yet, but he'll be fine in middle school. He'll be better than fine. Because he has determination and a strong desire to do what's right.
Congratulations, O.S. Dream big and work hard.
PS: Oldest Daughter did get the National Fitness Award.
And Y.S. Lost a front tooth.
5 comments:
Oh my Susan, I teared up reading your blog. Last year I was in your shoes, having a child ending one chapter of life and ready to head into another. Thankfully we both are still part of the Belview school community. I'm sure Will is an awesome child. It's great to indentify all the ways he is special beyond a certificate and like your family we teach our children to be there best and accept someone else just might be better in an area than they are. I don't believe in rewarding everyone equally as that would not prepare our children for real life, I'm glad you guys also have that train of thought. It's interesting to compare our own children's strengths and weaknesses and to be able to indentify they all inherit a gift not comparable to that of another that we must treasure so that they might flourish.
On another note, I suppose our daily waving will come to a halt along with the completion of yet another academic year.
Hope to see you around!
Danah
Loved your blog! You write beautifully. Rob said he saw you at the conference. What a small fun world.
I wouldn't worry about the G/T thing. Those are *supposed* to be programs for certain learning styles. It's a shame that so many people treat those programs like some kind of mini-Mensa-supercheapprivateschool thing.
Your kids look awesome. Congratulate them from a perfect stranger from your youth.
(My first baby graduates in just two years from high school! *manly-choked-up-sob*)
Another great post. Congrats to your kids on all of their accomplishments.
Adorable kids, Susan! All of your kids are winners, girl(beyond school recognition stuff). They have you! And you have them. So, it's a win-win. xoxo
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