This week was parent/teacher conference week at the Small Town elementary school.  For the kids, it means they get out early for most of the week.  For the parents, it means we have to cart our carcasses up to the school to find out what is actually going on at school (as opposed to the report we receive from our children).

We are very lucky.  If a family has multiple kids at the school, the teachers schedule the conferences consecutively so we only have to make one trip.  I know, I know, there are parents who normally make more than one trip to the school in a day.  But you know what, I’m not one of them (let the critical comments begin).

Today was the Small Town family conference.  With layoffs taking place all over the country, we didn’t feel comfortable having Small Town Daddy leave work, so I went it alone.  First I met with Libby’s teacher.  Now Libby is in fourth grade, so this is not the first meeting I have had about her.  I met with her teacher, we will call him Mr. D.  My conference with Mr. D. was a recitation of Libby’s strengths.  She has always done very well in school and her conferences are basically her teacher telling me how smart she is.  This is what I have experienced for 5 years.  It is what I am used to.  It is what I have grown to expect.

Then I went to meet with Joanna’s kindergarten teacher.  We will call her Mrs. S.  Now Mrs. S. very nice.  And I can’t imagine her saying anything negative about anyone’s child, ever.  But, it wasn’t the glowing report I was used to.  It seems that all of that academic instruction she is trying to implement, has the nerve to cut into Joanna’s social time.  She rushes answers so she can get back to socializing and sometimes, she doesn’t start assignments because she is socializing.  Who is this child and where did she come from?  She has the same mommy and daddy as Libby, she was raised in the same house as Libby, but I never received a report that Libby was socializing when she should have been working.  With her teachers, it has always been about encouraging her to socialize.

I don’t know what to do with a social butterfly.  I can much more relate to a child who is socially reserved.  Is anyone out there very social who can offer advise on what to do with a child who socializes too much in kindergarten (I wouldn’t have even thought that was possible)?  While it is cute in kindergarten, it is probably quite alarming in third grade.  This is not the report I want to continue to receive.

Another problem, how do I downplay the importance of school work for a child who makes herself sick with anxiety while stressing its importance for a child who looks at it as an interruption of her social life.  Believe me, I know that I am lucky that both of my girls are healthy, happy, smart little girls, and I am very grateful, but that doesn’t mean I don’t worry about them.  I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t worry (yes, Libby comes by her anxiety genetically).  I am open to any and all advice about what to do about my two little opposites.

As you can tell by the name of my blog, we live in a small town. Here in Connecticut, small town usually means more trees than people. We have a lot of trees in our yard, many of which grow out in the swamp (oh sorry, the conservation people call them wetlands) in our back yard. Today, a group of our neighbors came over to take down a bunch of our trees. The trees are all in the front yard, blocking the sun and menacing the house every time we get a strong wind. The trees had to come down and it is cheaper to have the neighbors do it than to have a tree guy come and take care of it (although if they hit the house, that will cease to be the case).

Anyway, it turns out that both of my kids are tree huggers. Who knew? They are very upset about the trees coming down and there has been crying for days about it. Both have identified “their” trees that are not allowed to come down. So far, Joanna’s trees have bit the dust. We will see what happens with Libby’s. Now, they are both on a hunger strike, refusing to eat anything (which may be more due to the SmartFood consumed at 3:30 rather than true upset, but I guess we will see when the pizza arrives).

I was able to distract them with Bee Movie (thank you, Jerry Seinfeld). And Libby is now outside raking all our leaves with the other neighborhood kids. Although, I am not sure what will happen at bedtime. I have the feeling we are in for a long night as everyone’s emotions come to a peak about the loss of their trees.

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