I have been drafting this post in my head for about a week now. I have just been so busy that every time I sit down to write at my computer, work keeps nagging me. So. Much. WORK. But I am forcing myself to write it now or I will forget and the moment will be lost…
Day In The Woods:
I have written about the school we have chose for our kids a lot (sorry, not going to link to all past posts–but will to the school). We love the school and everything about their philosophy and mission is something we want for our kids. There are several Rites of Passage moments at their school and Noah just participated in it–Kindergarten Day in the Woods. It is a full-day of hiking, where the kids carry their own packs–with their lunch, water, bug catching/holding things, etc., and they hike approximately 3 miles. It is totally a big deal. We were lucky that Bill go to go have this experience with Noah and it was quite a father-son bonding day. His final thought in his field journal was that he wanted to remember how happy he was that his dad came—melt my heart.
The kids come back a little more confident and closer. The class designed t-shirts (every kids gets one) and on the back you can maybe see that there is a self-portrait of each kid in the class–if you click on the picture below you can see the back of the shirt better).
The kids hike and they stop and write in their field journal–they draw pictures of what they saw and then they write their thoughts or what they hear. The big winner in the field journals was the snake that they saw and one of the dads picked up for the kids to really get a good look at it.
They built fairy houses and tried to catch tadpoles, bugs and little minnows from the pond. They walked together. They experienced this all together. Many of them (about 16) have been in school together for 3 years and you can see the bonds forming and deepening. You can see their attention to the world around them expand. You can see them grow as people with each step they take. You can see their independence develop as they walk a little further down the trail.
Piano:
Noah has been playing piano for about 18 months now. He loves it. Okay, honestly…he loves it most days. He is also pretty good at it. He seems to have an ear for music and will sometimes just sit down and play random notes, chords (really what the hell do I know–but it sounds good when he does it). He takes lessons at school—which is really nice as it’s one less activity we have to run around to. His piano teacher is really good and she encouraged us to sign Noah up to participate in a music festival–through the National Federation of Music Clubs. I told Noah what is was–memorize and play from memory (no music), two pieces in a room with a judge.  He thought that sounded cool. So he said yes. So we worked for 2 months on his two pieces of music. Alright, he worked for 2 months on his two pieces–really all I did (or could do) was encourage him to practice and to clap for him when he was done. I can’t read music.
He practiced nearly every day–“because if I practice for 100 minutes a week, I get a GREEN STAR STICKER.” Wow, okay. That piano teacher is on to something. I need to get some green star stickers. He knew the songs. When he practice at home he would still miss a note and start over every now and again. So, I was pretty sure he would do good at the festival, but I made sure he knew it was okay if he missed a note and that he should just keep going.
Well, Holy Shitballs, the kid, my son, did PERFECT. He still could have played a little “better”but he was PERFECT. Didn’t miss a note. He was so proud of himself. Before he left for the festival–he told me he was going to be better than we thought he could do…I don’t know if that should make me sad or happy. But I had told him to just try his best.
It was great that he did perfect–but what I like the best was how proud he was of himself.  There is nothing better than seeing your child proud of what they did. He can own his success and know that he did it.  It ‘s so great.
Embracing Imperfection 