Wednesday, October 19, 2011

It can't always be about you

Last week I was obsessing about Isabelle's teacher thinking we were uninvolved, negligent parents.  I mean I already told her Isabelle would not be doing homework this year which, to her credit she has said nothing about after the initial email contact. Then when I got an email telling me I had missed turning in some permission slips I made her send me links to them because it was too much work to go searching through the school web site for them. (Really it is a vast abyss to search through.)  And finally I realized we have forgotten to send the appropriate show and tell item with Isabelle for the past couple weeks. 

Miraculously she has managed to have something for lunch every day and arrive basically on time.  I can't vouge (how do you spell this word?) for combed hair or matching clothes though. 

But I reason she is happy and bright and certainly not at risk of falling behind so if she does nothing this year she will be just fine.  Which is good because we are doing nothing with her this year. 

For the past 6 years our life has revolved largely around her.  We have given attention to Jake as well as John and my personal whims but it all sort of circled around Isabelle in some way or another.  This year everything circles around John and my transition.  With any extra effort available we give it to Jake as he spends his final year with us before graduation.

This is not to say she is being neglected.  We are just not focused on how to teach her, grow her and help her develop her gifts and skills.  She is getting a little less attention than she thinks she needs but otherwise this should be a great year for her because we are putting almost no expectations on her. 

It's first grade.  I think she will survive.

I imagine next year, with me fully transitioned into working and once again the mother of an only child able to volunteer in the class and focus all my attention on Isabelle, her 1st and 2nd grade teachers talking and Isabelle's parents coming up and after comparing notes wondering if they are talking about the same little girl.  One year she has the negligent parents and the next they are helping her reach for the stars, helping in class and running the PTA!

OK sorry I got carried away there.  I'm not going to be transformed into a totally different person, but still I can imagine a little more involvement in her life.  Anything would be an improvement over this year.

1 comment:

  1. (I think it's vouch, kind of like voucher?)

    I think we all know that Isabelle could stand to learn a lesson in recognizing that she is not the center of the universe. It will be good for her! She is a genius, she is loved, and she will make it through 1st grade just fine :)

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