This was a phrase my mother used to say. I didn’t really get what it meant until I had kids of my own. Then I understood that essentially every waking moment would be spent biting my lip and trying to temper the extreme impatience of my extremely impatient self.
Kids at any age provide ample frustration. The thing I didn’t get while I was slugging my way through sleepless nights and poopy diapers was that, in some ways, the frustrations of school-age children versus babies would be just as real–just different.
As mentioned so often, you probably scream when you see me type it yet again: my son started Kindergarten this year. It has been hard. I don’t like to openly share how hard, because it’s been very hard. While we have largely schedule-adjusted, my husband and I are still both reeling from learning that our sweet, bright, intelligent son is struggling academically. In our case, it’s an attention issue. He knows his stuff, but is too wiped from having to pay attention for such long stretches that he has trouble communicating this to his teacher.
Regardless of why, the result is that we spend A LOT of time, so very much time completing assignments, extra work, and reading books until our tongues are ready to fall off from exhaustion. My impatience often wants to just read the words for him and grab his hand to assist while he struggles to write words.
But I know this isn’t the answer.
I love my son more than words. I see his brilliance shine like the sun every time I look at him. So there is no way, on this mama’s watch, that he’s going to fall behind. We are going to work at this and we are going to work hard. It will be very hard, given my natural inclination towards low patience, but we need to do this.
We are blessed to have a wonderful teacher and suberb school system behind us, supporting our endeavor to keep my son up to speed, but any parent knows that having a bevy of assistance on hand is never a bad thing. I will take any help I can get.
This is why I am incredibly grateful for the Nemours BrightStart! program for the fantastic new initiative, ReadingBrightStart! They have developed to help parents figure out the challenge of literacy and develop the language skills necessary to read. This site helps you identify where your child is in terms of developmental progress as well as any potential risk factors. There are loads of resources and suggested reading lists to help you address anything that requires attention.
After attending a webinar with Dr. Laura Bailet, Operational Vice President of Nemours BrightStart!, it was impressed upon me that the earlier challenges with childhood literacy are identified and addressed, the better the outcome for the child can be. This serves as motivation for me to not only continuing working hard on developing my 5 yr. old son’s reading skills, but to take the time to familiarize myself with where my 3 yr. old daughter is in terms of reading readiness as well.
This is not a light issue. Childhood literacy is real and important. As parents, we need to address it head on.
In our home, we will keep up with the tireless reading and exercises to keep our son up to speed, but that ReadingBrightStart! is providing assistance in doing this is a welcome blessing. Thank you, Nemours! With your help, we’ll plod on toward literacy success–with the patience of a mule when necessary 😉
****Thank you to Nemours BrightStart! for sponsoring this post. All opinions remain 100% my own.*****
First image credit: depositphotos.com, ID:2593330, copyright:StephanieFrey
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WhenCrazyMeetsExhaustion says
A-to-the-MEN, Meredith! I’ve worked with schools in and around this area and it is absolutely devastating to learn just how many parents DON’T read to their kids. What’s more is that these are the same parents who barely speak to their children, so the poor kids have zero reference for word recognition, vocabulary, sounding out words, etc. It’s a real travesty. And as an English teacher, I can say just how much GOOD you’re doing for your kids: reading is the foundation of education. You’s a good Mama, M! <3
Meredith says
xo, Stephanie. Thanks for being such wise voice of affirmation–will remember it when I feel my eyes drooping during all those bedtime stories and work hard to prop them open! You’re a smart woman, friend.
Cynthia Gabriele says
I know your frustration all too well. We have been blessed with 4 daughters in our family. The first wanted to be an engineer since she was in second grade, she now has a PhD in Bio-Medical Enginerr & a professor.
The second is like me all the way, smart with most things, if I liked them but, in school still wanted to have a good time. She is a big success at Travelers & is just completing a Masters.
The third had a 1% articulation & ADD, doctors told me I was overreacting when I began telling them there was something wrong when she was about 9 months old. We were finally able to have her evaluated at the age of 2. This changed our world. She started speech therapy, finding funding for this was hard but, perserverence paid off. We worked daily with her, her sisters helped as well. Within a year she was able to speak beautifully. She struggles with ADD to this day but has a batches or degrees, a real estate license & just passed testing for some insurance work.
The fourth, again we knew there was a problem & we suspected dyslexia & ADD. Again, we were right & started teaching techniques immeditalely. She has a batchelors degree in Equine Management.
The point is do not be afraid to have your child “Labeled”! This only allows them to receive the help they deserve & are able to succeed with. Stick to a schedule, routine is important. Hang in there it will get better as the family adjusts. Take turns with hubby when your patience runs thin & vice versus.
Meredith says
Cindy, this–“The point is do not be afraid to have your child “Labeled”! This only allows them to receive the help they deserve & are able to succeed with.”–was so smart and so helpful. Thank you–for getting it and for encouraging. So appreciated.