I try really hard not to live filled with worry, but sometimes, things come up. You guys know I’ve been struggling with a few things recently, but today, I feel quite a bit better 🙂 Not about everything, or even half of the things, but about a very important thing. My son, Dekker.
I’ve been putting a lot of pressure on myself, thinking he HAS to be doing or knowing certain things by this age, or he HAS to get into preschool, and we HAVE to be in a certain place to get him there, and blah blah blah. If you don’t know, my lovely friend Jerilee is a teacher, and I had mentioned to her a couple of days ago that I was stressed out and wanted to talk to her in person about it. And believe it or not, she calmed my nerves COMPLETELY! I’ve worried that Dekker is behind sometimes, and it turns out that lots of kids I’m around are actually further ahead of where they’re expected to be upon entering kindergarten, so maybe Dekker isn’t QUITE as far ahead, but he’s right where he should be 🙂 Through our discussion, I realized how my mindset needs to change, even just on a more surface level. We’ve struggled a bit with Dekker and his fears. His shy nature turned fearful after his eye surgery, and its been a very long road coming out of that. I was thinking he HAD to get into preschool if I had any hope of him being able to socialize with kids in kindergarten. I was never hellbent on my kids going to preschool, but I thought it would be a GREAT benefit specifically for Deks. But in the last few months, my boy has grown. He likes other kids, and doing activities with them. He is great at sharing with kids that aren’t his siblings, haha! He remembers names and learns so fast! He would thrive at preschool, but he would no longer crash and burn without it. Its a choice, not a necessity.
All of this being said, I think he’d have a total hoot at preschool, and if we can get him there, we will. BUT I feel the pressure has lifted, and it is less detrimental that he attend. That alone has lifted a huge weight off of my shoulders.
You, Jerilee, are a gem. Thank you for your wisdom and experience in the world of kids. You know so much more than me, and for that I am TRULY GRATEFUL!