Parenting According to Sigboy

The kids are just about thru with their first week of this new school year and I find myself pondering childhood. My son has been apprehensive about the first grade, the fear of the unknown is strong in him. He worries about reading and math. I comfort him, knowing that he will do fine. The biggest issue is his kindergarten teacher. She is teaching first grade this year, and Sigboy Jr was not chosen to be in her class. Of course, half his original classmates were, and he took it personally.

Some have suggested having the school move him into her class. My question is why? Change is the only constant in this thing we call life. I feel for my son, I understand his apprehension, and I will comfort him. But I will not ask the school to change his teachers. I feel that it will prevent him from developing skills that will help him function in society. Perhaps that is my upbringing coming out.

My father saw his roll as provider and worked, alot. The only times I saw him was when he took me to school in the morning and on Sundays. My mother was more enthralled with the idea of being called mom, rather than actually being one (brief aside, now she is more enthralled with the idea of being called grandma). If I wanted to do a extracurricular activity, it was my responsibility. All of it, logistics and planning. I had to figure out how I was paying for it, how I was getting there, and how I was getting home. Occasionally, that meant riding my bike ten miles across town. Sometimes it even meant that I had to walk.

What I gained from that was huge in comparison. I can make a plan. I can make a plan that will work, and I can do it under pressure, almost instantly. Please note that I did not say that they would be great plans, just that they would work. Great plans actually take, well, planning.

My point is this, children, with guidance and love, have to experience the world. We cannot shield our children from it. We can prepare them, and quide them down the correct path, but we cannot keep them from it. Would I be able to organize and plan as well as I do if not for my parents? As for Junior, what damaged would be done by sheltering him for another year? We all enjoy our comforts and our constants. But it is a big scary world out there, and our kindergarten teacher won't always be there to protect us.