Her face was serious.
"I wanted to meet with you before pulling the principal in so I didn't throw you for a loop..."
I smiled. "Don't worry. I'm on your team."
We talked for 45 minutes in tiny plastic chairs about what she sees in the classroom, strengths, weaknesses, patterns. And we opened a discussion that will continue with the principal, perhaps some therapists or other experts.
March. Right on time. It seems like every match or April I find myself airing opposite a grave faced teacher trying to brainstorm some new snag which often leads to questioning what what is the best way to help them each the next set of milestones.
Every January, I enroll in school and make default plans for the coming year knowing full well something will change before fall comes around. I don't think there's a single year that all the kids ended up in the place that I registered them in January.
This year, I've already met with the principal about Miles and I'm scheduling a meeting about Zander. Am I concerned? No. I've come to trust this as a process God uses to teach me who my children are becoming and how to guide them in their next step.
In fact, I'm grateful for it. It has taught me how to see my kids. Really see them. Observe. Ask questions. If teachers and others hadn't met with me and shared strengths and struggles, I may have missed some amazing parts of who they are.
I've learned how to look and what to look for to help a child learn to play, to talk, to brush teeth, to eat, to read, to write. Some kids need to learn these things differently. Some kids need to learn things we aren't used to teaching and some kids teach us to unlearn things... actually, I think all kids teach us to unlearn things if we are wise enough to let them.
Wise, loving teachers, administrators, therapists and others have partnered with me for as I've been a parent to observe, discern, experiment, pray and guide my kids into their next step of growth. Sometimes, it's scary. Sometimes, it's uncertain. Sometimes, it takes a few tries but I've always been amazed to see God at work creating the right path for each of them.
I was think this weekend to write a post about gratitude for childhood.
The weather has been amazing. Warm sun. Gentle breeze. Miles dug out a bike and got it going. I watched him ride around the block in the golden light.
Eddie was in the backyard measuring and cutting wood for a game he's helping to design.
Zander gathering eggs. Andrew and Philip setting up a board game for the brothers to play together.
My heart was light watching them live, thrive and be brothers to each other. A deep joy in watching them develop like Polaroid pictures into the unique people God made them to be. Each of them on a journey of becoming, as we all are.
I feel like the by-watchers in John's gospel.
"Come and see. Come and see what God is doing in our midst."
And I bear witness to the slow, miraculous work of forming adorable 7lb lumps of clay into light bearers.
Raising kids is the most spiritual journey I've ever been on. And it continues to grow and challenge me with every unplanned twist and turn.
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