Parent-Teacher Conferences

So on Tuesday, Brian and I attended our very first parent-teacher conference. It's strange even writing those words! I still can't believe my little boy is in school!!!

I don't want to BRAG . . . but this is my blog so what the heck! I can't express how proud I am of Kadin. As a parent it seems like I'm always questioning what the heck I'm doing. Am I messing him up for life, am I teaching him how to be polite and respectful? Am I showing him how to be a good person and am I setting a good example? Am I making sure he is thankful for all that he has in life and am I teaching him to give back to the people that don't have as much?

There are days when I'm sure I'm failing. We all have those days as parents when we are at our wits end and the days seem like years. We all have those embarrassing moments when you want to turn away from your child and pretend - just for a moment - that the child climbing inside the clothes rack and knocking all the shirts to the floor at Target isn't yours. When that nasty **** word slips from your lips and little ears seem to pick up on it so the next day you hear him repeat it while he's playing with his toys.

Then there are days like Tuesday - when you attend your first parent-teacher conference and your son's teacher confirms that you are indeed raising an intelligent, polite and delightful little boy. YES!! And then you remember that you really knew that all along, but it sure is nice when someone outside of Grandma and Grandpa tell you so.

If I'm being completely honest - I never really worried about Kadin when it came to intelligence. I could tell from a very early age that Kadin was smart - in fact I think he's too smart sometimes. What Brian and I always worried about was the social aspect of school. Would Kadin fit in, would he make friends, would he be accepted? Kadin came home from school in the beginning and told us that he didn't have any friends - that no one would play with him. It's hard when you're dealing with a 4-year old to completely believe everything he said. Was this true? Did he really not have any friends?

So we asked Kadin's teacher if he socialized with other kids. She said yes, BUT sometimes he became too aggressive and the kids would shy away from him. Well we were very relieved when she told us on Tuesday that Kadin has made a LOT of progress with this and is now playing much better with the other kids - AND Kadin finally comes home and talks about things he's done with other kids at school.

I'm so proud of Kadin. It was so surreal to watch him show Bella around his classroom . . . as he told her things he did during the day. My mind wandered to when she will be old enough to attend school . . . knowing Bella is my last baby . . . how the times when she still wants hugs and snuggles may soon be coming to an end. I guess that's a whole other post . . .