![]() October 19, 2001 Then there's the reading comprehension thing. He usually does great at that, but for some reason, he's flunking those tests, too. We'll be going to the library, picking out some books and then trying them out at home. And then there's the math stuff. Math is his strongest subject. The kid has had the multiplication tables memorized since last year and can do all kinds of math off the top of his head, but his test scores don't reflect that. He got a C-, which for a kid who's been told he should go into gifted children classes for math, ain't a good thang. Well, there's also the generic refusal to check over his work, ask questions, and generally look for a solution, too.*sigh* I've asked Russell what's going on and what he's worried about, but he keeps assuring me that there's nothing. Mike and I don't hardly believe that, but if that's what he says, then we can't hardly force the truth of the matter out of him with a crowbar. I know that there's the adjustment to a new school thing going on and that Russell has trouble with transitions. Each year, the first few months are brutal hell for all of us, including his teachers. His teacher is really cool though and she and I are working together. We'd been enduring nightly homework battles, but she helped out there by saying that if he wasn't finding the errors and doing things correctly, that we could send it to school and he'd simply stay in at recess and do the work then. Of course, that makes it his responsibility and hard as it is for me, Virgo Princess, High Priestess of Perfection to send him to school with his homework at less than perfect, I'm tightening up my corset and giving that up. Today, when we realized about a block down the street to school that his folder wasn't signed off and that he didn't have a pencil, I started to head back to the house. I stopped 5 steps down the street and turned to him and said,"You know, that's something you're responsible for and you didn't bring that to me and we need to get to school. It's just not going to get signed." I felt simultaneously like Big Loser Parent and Make Him Responsible Mommy. It was a very weird, yet freeing place. I also had a long talk with him about my misspent youth. The whole time I was growing up I was told that if I'd just apply myself, that I'd have the world at my fingertips. I just could never bring myself to do that until it was almost too late -- in college. I told Russell that his teacher and Mike and I both thought he was doing some of the same thing...he's capable of, but not doing his best. I said something like,"You can waste your time and energy doing half your best and be just like me or you can be better than me. It's okay with me either way, but I just want to let you know." He seemed to take it in the competitive spirit with which I meant him to take it. (I'm going to kick Mom's ass!)( In other news, our house full of earth signs is developing the earthiness of its youngest member. Genny farts like a freight train -- toot, toot all over the house. And Jiminy, I thought the cat was bad. Tonight, she was bent over with her butt in the air, so I gave her a soft boot in her diaper. She totally started cracking up. I pretended to look away and then gave her another little boot. She started hee-hawing at me. I booted her a few more times with varying degrees of giggling and I could tell she'd about had enough and then Mike came over and gave her a little boot and she totally fell apart laughing. He started chasing her around the house both of them giggling. Then I asked him to get something from the car and she ran behind him with her hands over her butt, laughing herself silly. Then she came in and got a hug. That's earth signs for ya...slapstick and bodily functions are the stuff comedic dreams are made of. Lately, I've been looking at them both and thinking,"Like mother, like child." Scares me some. |