Back in the day school used to start after the Labor Day holiday. So, this is always the start of the school year for me as I remember it.
As summer has ended and we embark on a new school year for our children, new challenges, new memories, new friends, and even some stress will arise. I loved when school would begin, we have gotten through the summer trips, days at the pool or beach, and kids up all night eating everything that is in the house. We are now preparing them for structure, and discipline. They will have to get into a routine, and if you have more than one child this can be easy or difficult. Because each child is different, one may be ready, and the other child may have to be encouraged, pushed, and possibly do some handholding. My daughter enjoyed school. Well, I did not have any issues with her getting ready for school and doing her best. I remember when she started elementary school, I was nervous for her. Kids can be cruel, and I didn’t want her to be bullied. She always made friends and everyone older loved to be around her. My son was the challenge, I remember him in preschool being picked on by the girls because he loved to nap and sleep in. He would always be the one to sleep the longest in preschool. My son is such a loveable person that everyone babied him, teachers and all. He is a charmer.
Parents, in June, I congratulated you all on the hard work you did to get your kids through the school year. Today, I am here to encourage you to push, help, and be a supportive parent and present for every moment. What you have installed in your children will have to go with them as they enter school without you being there. They will have to make choices for themselves and follow the rules of what is in front of them. Parents, let me put a little pressure on you, your children are a reflection of you and what is being taught at home when they are at school, and you are not around.
Elementary school is easy, middle school is trying to figure out who they are and entering that pre-teen to teenage stage. They are experiencing hormones and puberty. Then there is high school, and they will mature more and become little adults. We must make lasting impacts on their lives, as they will have 8 months of outside influences. So, what are we doing to help them become responsible adults ready for this crazy world. So how do you do that when you have more than one child stressing you out, working life, and trying to balance your own happiness. We remember these kids did not ask to be here, and God gave us a responsibility over their lives. I remember having a struggle with my son. By high school he hated school he wanted to drop out of school. I told him absolutely not; it is one of my jobs to make sure he graduates from school. I had to become creative with this kid. He was so smart, gifted, and honor roll, and his teachers would all tell me how pleasant he was when he was in class. I was like Lord what do I do? As I am trying to complete my Ph.D., and work and make sure he is the responsible person I am supposed to raise him to be. He refused to go to school. I sat him down and asked him what he wanted to do. He was honest and said he hated school and did not want to go. The agreement would be, that he can go to charter school 2 to 3 times a week and would have to find a job. He agreed, but in the meantime, my son had to look for a job he couldn’t just hang out, so he volunteered at my church in the pantry, and they loved him there. He was a hard worker.
He eventually got a job and went to school a few days out of the week to turn in his work and complete high school. This was a tough time for both me and my son. I could not dictate his life; he had a mind of his own and was determined to do what he wanted. He was one that if I say I will not do this I will not do it. So, this is where I had to communicate and understand my son rather than say this is going to be my way and you will listen. They have feelings, and some know exactly what they want to do. Our dreams may not always be their dreams, so we need to take our time to get to know who young adults are trying to be. There is a part in my book that I wrote and asked my daughter to introduce her to who she is. Because as we know people grow and change our children grow and change and sometimes, we need to know who they are, we need to be re-introduced to them.
As our babies are off to school this year, be the supportive parent, maybe do some gentle parenting and prepare them for the world. Find out what they love and do not love about school and work with them to get through the school year. If you must be creative, do it, hopefully, you do not have to go through what I went through and be creative with my son finishing school. But there will always be something. Know that you are not alone, and all moms and dads may have experienced what you may go through.
Signed “The Doc”
The New Statistic 