Weird title, yes! Even crazier once I explain, my life has been about lines lately! No, I am not talking about walking the drunk driving test line(of course, that would make for a much better story), but instead drawing a straight line! As my blog has shown Taylor Buds has been having a hard time with school...the day it looks like it is getting better is the day we have to deal with lines.
OK, we are in South Africa and things are going to be different, to be expected, but some things are VERY different! Background info-I have made an attempt to meet with the boys teachers individually to get a handle on what is expected, and to introduce ourselves. Hunter's teacher is great, Taylor's teacher is pleasantly referred to as "The Dragon"! Taylor likes to describe her as Mrs.______(worst teacher from old school-some may know name)'s grandma! Of course the child struggling gets the worst teacher! On my initial visit with her, she tells me Taylor is having a hard time with his lines-I say, I know(Taylor has clued me in), but he is trying! Do you want to know what lines I am discussing-drawing lines, yes lines on a paper-lines that divide the paper, lines underneath a problem, just *&% lines! He needs to get better at lines! Dear God, I thought maybe he needed to improve his spelling, his math or even maybe his handwriting, oh no... his lines. How do you go about improving this, you practice drawing lines using a ruler on paper(I mean come on, who has time for this shit!) So our pride and joy is doing better lines, so we think, until he walks to the car in tears, yes tears! His teacher, in red, has written on his paper-If your lines are not straighter, you will write 100 ruled lines. OK, were we drawing curves, maybe jagged lines-nope just 2 out of 10 lines his ruler slipped and at parts there was a double line. People, I am talking about the damn lines drawn down the middle of the page! I am pissed, so I call the principle, surely she will take my side and blow this over-Once again.. no, she states that straight lines is the school policy! WHAT! WHAT! ARE YOU KIDDING ME! I tell her very nicely, that I would think that the math problems would be the focus, not the lines! AHHHHH! What to do, we tell Taylor he must respect his teacher and try his best as I quietly think of taking up Voodoo! He says he does try, he is using a ruler! You may think, how hard is it to draw a straight line... I thought so to-but my 10 year old is having a hard time holding the paper, holding the ruler, and then perfectly drawing a straight line. Boys... if this was a girl I am sure the issue would never have come up! The schools here in South Africa really put a strong focus on handwriting and presentation! In fact, when we moved here both of my boys teachers said they needed some occupational therapy to sort out their paper work! I have explained that in the States, unfortunately, the teachers do not have time to focus on printing and handwriting or lines! I am not saying that my boys could not use a serious class in neatness, but come on! So our battle continues, we have introduced a wooden ruler to help out! There are other things I would like to focus on, but the focus remains on the line_____________!
More lines this past week...Running in between them! Taylor was selected to represent his school in the Eastern Cape Athletics Meet! This past Friday, Taylor ran a good long line! He finished 3rd out of 10 local schools in his event. I am very proud of my buddy, especially since he has not trained for this-just the occasional Sunday runs! He can run in a straight line, just not draw one!
Taylor can swim in a straight line too! He also represented his school at a swim meet this past weekend and swam the freestyle! My little athlete! Although we are missing one of our favorite sports, basketball, we are trying to keep involved in sports. He is swimming three times a week, taking tennis lessons, and is involved in a golf clinic!
Walk the Line My Boy(or draw the line)!
We do have other children(you may forget, how could I)....
Hunter is doing great! He is fitting into school and following along quite nicely. He has swimming once a week, cricket once a week, tennis clinic, and will also do a golf clinic! We must keep this child busy or he would turn into a couch potato! One thing about Hunter is, he always has that sweet toothless grin!
Claire is blowing me a away with her progress lately! She is almost completely potty trained, just waiting for her to tell us, she always goes when you ask! She is talking so much more! She definitely is putting two word utterances together and sometimes trys three words! We have recently diagnosed her with Childhood Apraxia of Speech, we have a long road ahead of us, but we will try to walk this line on top! She has also started her horse therapy and loves it-Buttercup is a hit and gets to be fed a carrot each session(needless to say, we have taken stock in carrots)! She now knows some colors, numbers and is learning the alphabet! She can point to an A and give you the sound!!!
I have yet to stop, as most moms know(it does not matter what continent you are on), but I am trying to add some stuff just for me! I am beginning my tennis lessons next week! Taylor's golf pro put a bug in my ear-golf lessons-Pat would pass out if he had to share the course with his wife! Somethings are best left alone! I do get a chance to grab an occasional coffee, and I have begun to meet some of the school moms -I really like one of them, she has a boy in Taylor's class and one in Hunter's class!
By the way, my fifth grade party was a success- I had 10-15 boys swimming, playing basketball, cricket, soccer, football and the Wii! I got to see Taylor interact with the other boys, and felt like he is finally settling in. He may have not found one real close friend, he is on his way-Let's hope his new friends walk a straight line (and not chase the rainbow, just kidding)!
Lines, lines, lines...what a crazy thing to be worried about!
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