The first quarter of the 2008/2009 school year end a week or so ago, so we just had our first parent/teacher conferences of the year. Report cards were presented at the conferences (teacher's have finally wised up and stopped sending them home with the students). For my boys, it was A's and B's across the board. As far as behavior....they are both considered "a pleasure to have in class". I don't think those words have ever meant more to me than they do this year. I think it's because I'm working at the school now and deal with the students all day long and, let me tell you, my kids are SAINTS compared to a lot of them. They truly are a pleasure...a breath of fresh air, for their teachers. I'm so proud of them for that. Academically this year has been a challenge for both of them, but they are doing great! Homework is overwhelming at times, but we seem to get through it night after night. From talking to other parents, I have been told that 6th thru 8th grade are some of the hardest years of school. The pressure to get these kids ready for High School is intense. Sadly, most of the students don't have the maturity to handle the pressure or the speed at which new concepts are introduced. It makes for a lot of stress and a lot of work on the part of the parents to help their child stay on top of things. I really feel for the kids who don't have much support from their parents (and believe me there are a lot of them). Seeing how well my boys are doing at school, as reflected in their grades, reassures me that all of the sacrifices we have made to make it so that I can be available to them is well worth it.
As far as our sugarplum goes, I haven't heard anything as to when to expect the next batch referrals. But I can tell you that she has been on mind everyday. Everything I do, I do with her in mind. I'm constantly wondering what life will be like when she is here. Even these parent/teacher conferences get me wondering. "What will life be like next year." "What will doing homework be like?" "What will getting the kids out the door for school every morning be like?" "What will she be like?" "What will she look like?" "How old will she be?"....I could go on and on and on. I am absolutely filled with emotion when it comes to the adoption. Over flowing with it. I feel everything from fear and uncertainty to joy and elation. You name it. Pick any day of the week and it will have an emotion attached to it. Each day is different. The only thing that changes from one day to the next is the intensity of what I'm feeling. The closer we get, the more intense the feelings. At some point, I may actually explode from emotion! My favorite emotion of them all is the one where I actually miss her. I miss this child that I have yet to meet. That one makes me laugh at myself. I'm that crazy! How can you miss something you've never had?! My heart aches to see her face and to hold her. Maybe it's not missing her...maybe it's just a longing for her. That would make more sense. Maybe I'm not as crazy as I feel at times....or maybe I am.
Hopefully we'll have referral news soon!!
