Good Days, Challenging Days

When you have a high-energy, spirited, child, even the smallest of milestones mean a lot.  Ben is a handful, and I have been quite vocal with how nervous I am about how he will do in big school.  I have enrolled him in summer classes and his classes in First Robotics have been one of his favorites.  

I'm always curious how Ben performs in his classes so I was happy that his robotics class had simple reports on how the student did per class.  Here is one report that made me a frustrated

As you can see, teacher Raquel was not happy with how Ben did that day.  I can totally relate to her because there are times when Ben has to be constantly reminded to be focused, listen well, and not distract others.  I remember sending a photo of this to Bry right away because I know he can relate, too.  We then tried to talk to Ben about his behavior and how we can help him.  It takes a lot of willpower on my part to be patient and not be discouraged.  I also tried telling myself that not all days are like this.  I tried to put myself on his shoes, maybe he got too excited, and needed to bring out his excess energy before class.  Maybe, like us, kids have their off days, too.

Here's the feedback on Ben a few sessions after.

So Ben has his good days, after all.  Honestly, my initial reaction was a feeling of relief.  I do hope he continues to improve when it comes to doing assigned tasks.  It's a gentle reminder to take the good days with the challenging ones, just as we want to be accepted during both our on and off days.

Ben and I would have this conversation regularly:

Me "Ben, I love you even if you're makulit"

Ben "Mama, I love you even if you get upset"

And on some days, that's all that we need to hear from each other