Back to school tomorrow

Today's officially the last day of my 2015 Spring Break week. You might guess that I'm grieving about this, but if you did, you'd be wrong. [shrug] I'm a teacher. It's just what I do. And if I'm not actually teaching, I'm thinking about teaching, because I know I'm going to be teaching soon, and I have to "redeem the day" as the Scripture says.

I'm a little bummed because Isaac seems to have come down with some sort of sickness today. I tend to be the sort of mom who says "rub some dirt on it and keep going"... and I generally live my own life that way as well... but he was adamant that he felt bad. I made him AT LEAST go up to the school (which is just a few blocks away) and face his drama teacher to ask if he could stay home from one-act play practice today. They're very close to time for contest, and he's been straggling on learning his lines.

I think perhaps he's going through the sophomore doldrums this semester. Lack of motivation for anything except computer games has overtaken him, and I've had to needle and wheedle to make him to his schoolwork (which he's beyond capable of doing). It's a frustrating stage for a parent. I'm trying hard to remember back to being his age; I went through some similar stages. I was different, though; I was a deeply passionate person who was motivated by relationships and imagination. He's another animal altogether. He is not at all energized by romance and music and fantasy; the only time I see him really zing! into something is when there's a computer issue that needs solving.

I'm not really looking for advice at this point. I'm just using this space to sort things out in my head. He'll be fine, and he'll eventually emerge from the unmotivation that he's suffering from. I just have to try to walk the line between the pushy-mom and the free-range mom. I don't want him to do something (like fail a class) that affects his future... but I also need to back off and let him make mistakes and find his own motivation apart from his mom's approval.

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It DOES seem mildly unfair that, after a rainy, overcast week of Spring Break, today has emerged bright and sunny and beautiful. I'm glad, though, because the sunny weather will bring the rest of the flowers into bloom. And the rain is a welcome relief from drought. It would be nice to see the area reservoirs full again, but it's going to take a lot more than what we've already gotten.

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Tomorrow I have to hit the ground running; I have to take student art to the local college for their annual competition. For the past three years, I've missed the deadline for this competition, but this year the district's other art teacher has helped keep me on track with dates and times. I'm just terrible with that sort of thing, usually, but I'm grateful that my school district has people who help each other and work together instead of competing with each other.