Hero.

My Izzy is a hero. 

Two times this week, he helped someone on the play ground he didn't know, who had been hurt by someone else.  He came home yesterday and said that a little boy was lying on the ground crying because he had been pushed down. Izzy helped him up and asked who did that to him. When the boy pointed him out, Izzy went to the boy who pushed and said, "Don't you EVER do that again, you could've really hurt him. This is your last chance, you do that again and I will tattle tale you so bad!" The pusher agreed and then Izzy said, "You go home and tell your Mom you did this too."

Turns out, being big for your age really has its benefits. 

Parent/Teacher conferences were this afternoon. I asked Izzy this morning how he thought it would go and he was super confident that it was going to be "all good things." He was pretty much right. He is doing well in all of his subjects, especially Music...obvious. The only real complaint she had was his handwriting. This is my complaint too. So sloppy. We are practicing every night and I know it will improve this year. 

The main thing she wanted to talk about was his behavior. This is what she said of Izzy:


Izzy is the best friend I have ever met. He is a best friend to each and every kid in class. He is super social and nice to everyone no matter what. There are kids in class that are underprivileged and handicapped and he plays with them all equally and without thought. If you ask the kids they each say Izzy is their best friend. He is kind, honest, honorable and helpful. 


Now, I was super happy to hear he is doing well in his subjects and that he hasn't had problems in anyway, but it made me beam to hear what I have always known to be true, he has been created with a special heart. He loves with complete purity. He doesn't care about your skin, your status, your gender or physical limitations. 


I wish I knew more people like that. We are all called to love, and I am learning how to do it even better from my six year old. He is my hero.

 

Homework and Life Lessons

Izzy is in First Grade. He just finished reading his first reading textbook and is on to the second level. With this new level of knowledge, his class has  begun the adventure of weekly spelling lists and Friday spelling tests. This also means that each night we need to add spelling words to our list of things to work on. Izzy is currently trying to fill out his book club sheet, meaning he reads to me each night and records what he read and how many pages and when he reaches 25 he turns it in for recognition in the newsletter and the announcements and receives a small treat. We are up to 50 books at this point, so he is doing fairly well. 

Gotta be honest, I was a liiiiiittle worried about spelling. Some people have a natural talent for spelling and others it just becomes a struggle for life. I was hoping he would fall in the first category to save me from wrinkles and impatience. Luckily, I have awesome friends that all share their tips and tricks with me and when I worked with Izzy that first night, after 5 minutes, I tested him and he got 100%! What a relief!

Between Izzy reading me multiple books (slowly) and Me reading chapter books to him every night, (and devotions and Bible), any homework he didn't finish at school and our new challenge of penmanship... a request not made by his teacher, but completely a necessity for me to be able to save any of his work from school, we hardly have any time for fun. I don't like this at all. Izzy is pretty tired after a full day at school. Add in chores, piano, soccer, homework and reading and most nights he is heading to bed-hours- after his normal bedtime.  

Ever have one of those moments when you are in the midst of your normal routine and you look at your kids and realize, "I am BLESSED!" My boys are not perfect, but I could not ask for anything better. They are loving and kind to one another and they are great friends to everyone they meet. Quiet and gentle and both have been given sensitive spirits. I was working tonight in the basement, when I looked up to find Izzy encouraging Asher and telling him how proud he is of him, followed by a giant hug and a "I love you." No prompting, in fact, I was so into my work I am not certain of the reasoning behind it.  A few minutes later, I overheard Asher telling his Bobo how much he missed him today and he is glad he is home. They were playing quietly so I could work and I loved hearing such positive words. I stopped what I was doing and applauded their behavior and instructed them to load up in the car because I was taking them out for ice cream BEFORE dinner, something I have never done.  It was just one of those moments, that hit me like a truck. I am so lucky and in love with these boys and my 12 mile long list can wait so I can reward them for their kindness.

Priceless.

After our special treat and dinner out with Daddy, Izzy and I came back to buckle down and work on all of that homework. I told him to take a potty break and go to the living room for 2 minutes and get his wiggles out because when we sit, we focus. He loves that, and it really seems to help. We tackled one thing at a time and in the middle of a 3 page lesson with a lot of writing, Izzy got out of his chair and gave me a big hug and whispered in my ear, "Momma, thank you for helping me with my homework and being so nice. It makes me feel good and work hard." *tears*


So, this is my life now. My nights are filled with taxi-ing boys all over the city, Room Mom meetings, school functions, and lots and lots of homework. Tonight was one of those nights, that makes up for the not so easy times and all of the exhaustion. :) 

Glad that a lesson we have been trying to teach Izzy is connecting: Attitude determines everything! Even when things don't come easy to you, don't give up. Make up your mind to be positive and practice until it becomes easy. Negative attitude always gets Negative results. 

This is a great lesson for me too. Impatience is something I am always working to combat. When I allow negativity and impatience to get the best of me, I will only see negative reactions in my children.  Even when they test my patience, my attitude determines their outcome.  


Tonight was a victory for all of us, our good attitudes were rewarded with love, kind words and a sugary treat. What is better than that?

Double the Treasure.

A couple of months ago, Izzy told me his bottom front teeth were loose. They would barely move, but they did. I am not one for these types of situations, so my solution was for him to wiggle them on his own. I am also not one for germs or touching your mouth so like a complete germaphobe, I requested he do it with a baby wipe in hand to create a germ barrier or with his tongue.

Shark Teeth

After a visit to the dentist for a cleaning and check-up, we knew it was important to get these teeth out because his adult teeth have already broke through and they need room and also, it is unattractive to look like a shark with multiple rows of teeth. I knew we were close, so tonight I just told him I would read his favorite book while he wiggled and twisted those puppies out. While he was wiggling he said, "I sure wish my Daddy was a Dentist, it would make my life so much easier right now!"
It didn't take much, one single tear and then POP! the first one was out!

Baby Tooth #1!

He was so excited he ran to tell everyone and check on himself in the mirror.  When he decided it didn't hurt much at all and he looked pretty good, he was determined to get #2 out.

Working on #2!

A couple of minutes later and a few bloody baby wipes and we had not one, but two first teeth out and inside the Teeth Treasure Chest I made for just this occasion.  10/10/2011, my sweet boy lost the very first teeth that kept us up on a couple of nights as a 4 month old.  While I'm sad, I thought I would be a little more emotional  than this. Maybe because I had so much notice and we are months behind all of his friends in the tooth loss game. Either way, I think I am so proud because he was so brave! Anyone who knows my Izzy, knows he is as dramatic as a Telenovelas actor and so I was prepared for a battle. I guessed wrong. He said it hurt, but he did it all himself. I thought for sure the first sight of blood would send us over the edge, but no, we just went through a pile of baby wipes, like no big deal.

Double the Treasure.

Which brings me to the tooth fairy. Do we or Don't we? My parents did, which is very unlike the rest of my childhood. I went to the store and bought an unfinished chest that I later painted,  because I thought it has a lock and I could save his teeth safely and I will just see how he feels about things as it happened. Well, he shocked me tonight with the, "Look Mom, I know there is no tooth fairy. It just doesn't make sense. No one told me about it, I just figure it doesn't make sense. I've never seen no fairy and how do they get in your room? How do they get money in there? What do they do with your teeth? It's not real. So I know it has to be an adult like you guys." So all of my worrying was for nothing because all I had to say was, "Whatever you believe is fine with me Izzy, lets just put your teeth in the Treasure Chest for safe keeping and tomorrow you will have a treasure and you can decide how it got there." He was super happy about that and I was happy not to fib about something he was so not into anyway.

Then, to my surprise, after they were both out and I was wishing him a great nights rest, he said, "I will know she is real if she leaves me a note...not just money." So guess I'm writing a note tonight too.

My next issue ....

What is the going rate for a tooth these days? Because I am pretty sure my parents stepped the reward game up about 20 notches. They each gave me $5 to pass on to the treasure chest and I haven't even given to the tooth fund yet! I don't think they thought this through because 2 boys with lots of teeth....they may need to retire at some point.

I was hoping to get to bed early since I haven't taken a breath since 2 weeks ago Thursday, but instead I am going to have to stay up to ensure he is completely out before I sneak in his room. Let's pray I don't fall asleep before I do, because Izzy wakes before the sun and Mommy does not.