He did it! Yeah!
June 29, 2009

“No more pencils, no more books”
“No more teachers’ dirty looks”

It’s summer and school is out! Need I say more? My son has been out of school for two days now and I’m so very happy and proud of him I don’t know myself. He has advanced to fourth grade!! I’m tickled pink (yellow, orange you name it). He did it! My loving and amazing child has advanced to fourth grade for next semester!!

Towards the end of the semester he was having difficulties with his teacher who happens to be a wonderful, disciplined and fair teacher. He wasn’t getting along with her as he felt she was picking on him unfairly and she didn’t like him. I had to explain to him that if the teacher didn’t care about him she wouldn’t go through the trouble of correcting him or sending home notes with the intention of resolving the problem. I was getting notes from her in the meantime explaining what was going on and let’s just say it was just a messy situation. His father bellowed and scowled at him. I took over. I wasn’t trying to scare him into behaving. I wanted him to listen and understand, to know why it was important and not be scared or frightened into it.

I was frustrated, angry with his behavior and disappointed but… I loved him through it. I encouraged him through it and I talked to him constantly through it, explaining why he needed to be respectful of his teachers. Why he needed to be more attentive in class so that he could be successful in his future endeavors. I also got angry with him at times when I thought he should’ve understood but demonstrated otherwise… but as always I loved him through it and I prayed! Did I pray! I prayed for patience in dealing with him, I prayed for God to let him understand and I prayed some more because that’s what I know to do when all else failed.

It was his final day of the last semester in third grade and so I, like all the other parents out there was expecting report cards. I was hoping, praying and anxiously waiting (a bundle of nerves inside) but cool, calm and collected on the outside. I didn’t want to put all that pressure on him. When I came in from work that evening, my husband met me at the door and said “bad news sweetie, he has to repeat third grade.” I knew right away, he advanced! How? Because he didn’t even wait for me to put my bag down before all that came out and he didn’t look frustrated or disappointed enough. I asked where Mark was, he said, “I sent him to his room”. My heart sank, but I kept my cool.
I was a bit upset at him. “Why’d you send my child to his room, he needs to be comforted blah, blah, blah…”

I went to Mark’s room and he was in bed covered and smiling under the sheets. They had planned the whole thing and he was grinning from ear to ear! To make a long story short, he made it! He advanced to the next grade! He got four on the State’s math test and three on the English Language test (on both test four is the highest one can score) and for his regular subject scores he did well.
I gave him a high-five, big hug and told him how proud I was of him and how I knew he could do it. We hugged and rocked, grinning stupidly with me just loving him. Thank you God!

I took him to a neighborhood restaurant on the weekend and treated him to lunch, just us two, mother and son. It was wonderful. His dad who is equally proud of him took him to one of his favourite spot, “Chuckie’s Cheese where he had tons of fun. He came home quite exhausted.
He made it… Yeah!
Congratulations Mark, we love you!