Tuesday, June 14, 2016

4th grade Highlights

I don't even add 'blog' on the to-do list anymore. I couldn't even remember my password. It is a relic of time past. I use facebook. And journal. But this space still exists.  My heart is a bit heavy tonight. On the eve of the last day of school. I always feel melancholy. An entire year over. And summer begins. I feel like I've missed it. That I haven't always been present. But, I have. I really have. It just all goes so fast.  Off the top of my head: memories of fourth grade


First day of school


Right until the day before school, we didn't have the name of the teacher. Seren's assigned teacher moved to the 6th grade leaving a vacancy. We ended up with a team of teachers. Ms. K and Mr. S. We adored one of the teachers.  Seren was also placed with her best friend.  Socially, she didn't have a great year this year. She has become really inarticulate, introverted, and awkward. You have to WORK to get to know Seren. Which is hard to see. But that doesn't seem to be the real Seren. The real Seren is loud and wacky and super funny. But not many people see that side of her. Hormones plus not a great teacher fit made it a hard year academically. We advocated on her behalf many times and didn't get too far which frustrated us to no end. But one of her teachers 'gets it' and was wonderfully supportive.


Halloween
Her year as a guinea pig. She helped me make the costume and loved dressing up as Hector, her beloved guinea pig.


Uncle John's Wedding
She was thrilled to be a flower girl among a whole bunch of flower girls. She was nervous but loved it.


Breaking her arm
I'll never forget the call when Sam called to say that it was broken. The day she actually broke it she said "Hi mom! I might have broken my arm! Isn't that cool!?" We wrapped it and iced it. But it still hurt. Two DAYS later, we took her in and yup, fracture.  Poor thing. A split then a cast and then a splint were in our future.


Ukele
Seren wanted a ukulele for Christmas and my  in-laws generously gave it to her. She ahs LOVED this instrument. Holy smokes! She has taken off with it. And is a quick study. She loves to play Prince, Beatles, the Rainbow Connection and others. So fun!


Activities:
Scouts, Running club, ukulele, piano, super Saturday activities in March
I co-lead the troop this year again with my neighbor. It was a larger, more organized troop which was super fun.  My favorite activities included visiting a nursing home and conducting a 'talent show'. The girls did a great job! Seren played the piano and the ukulele. And the residents performed for us! We all just loved it!!


We also went camping with the scouts. In September. It poured and poured. But they had fun doing archery. And I had fun with the troop. The girls stayed up too late of course the first night but then did compassing, etc. My favorite moment was dawn by the lake.


Spring break
We escaped for a few days to Indiana to freeze our butts off during 'spring break' in the snow. We cancelled our camping trip and rented an old farm house.  It was ridiculous. Filled with mice, water that smelled like ass and ants. But it was better than camping in the snow!


Running Club
Due to the broken arm, she was sidelines from basketball. But come the spring, she participated in both the Super Saturday activity which included field hockey and running club. She kicked butt in the running club. I'm telling you, this girls' stride is amazing! She completed the training by running the Chelsea Heart and Sole. Last year she came in first place but was very disappointed by her time. This year, she also came in first place but took 6 minutes of her time. Finishing her fastest 5K yet. And far faster that I've ever run it. Super proud.


Piano
She continues to enjoy playing the piano and has gotten quite good. If, however, you only saw the spring concert? You'd never know it. She bombed the spring concert. Terrifically. But ya know what? You gotta fail to learn how to succeed again. She burst into tears at the end of the performance. But I was proud of her for giving it her best and trying to do the performance without her books. She came home, sat down, and played in perfectly. Nerves can really get to ya!


10
Nine wasn't easy. It is a mixture of raising a little girl who wants to snuggle, play with your hair and sleep with a stuffed sheet AND someone who yells 'whatever', doesn't answer your questions, ignores your nagging, is messy and can just be rude. It has baffled me this year. Just baffled me. She is so smart and so creative. She understands things better than most people I know. And is one step ahead of me. Yet not quite mature when it comes to interpersonal stuff. As with all years, we continue to do our best, love on her, celebrate the victories, downplay the challenges and advocate on her behalf.  We celebrated TEN years old by having a small pool party. No big sleepover party full of girls. She wanted it small and intentional. She had a really good time.


Tomorrow, she will walk out a 5th grader. New territory. Parenting is awe-inspiring, exhausting, baffling, rewarding, hysterical and so much more. I wouldn't trade her for the world. She is mine and I love her.