Kindergarten is Over and Grandma Can Exhale

For those of you who have been following this blog you know my frustration last year over trying to get my grandson into kindergarten as an early entry due to the fact that his birthday falls six days after the cutoff date. Well, he did get in for $500, the amount we had to pay a psychologist to have him tested. Was he ready for kindergarten? Academically, yes. Socially, yes. Emotionally, maybe not. Jarod spent about half the school year in play mode meaning he still had a daycare mentality. What I learned was he spent way too much time playing in daycare than he did preparing for kindergarten. The structure of the daycare environment he was in was much different than a classroom setting. He had a lot of free time and free reign to just play and have fun. That thought pattern continued into the school environment, which took its toll on the teacher's nerve from time to time. In hindsight, I still believe we did the right thing by getting him tested as an early entry, however, if I had it to do over again, I would've looked more discriminately at the daycare providers. Meanwhile, it's on to First Grade.

Winning Approval

This post was inspired by something my grandson said at soccer practice today. After scoring the only goal for his team (who lost 5-1), he asked his mother (my daughter) if he had done good. Of course, she said yes. Then he asked me, "Grandma, did I do good today?" Of course, I said yes, too.

Why he felt the need to ask both of us got me to thinking about his need and desire for affirmation. Even though his team came out on the losing end, he wanted positive reinforcement that he had done good job.

Isn't it interesting how the words spoken to us early in life can influence us for REST of our lives? We could've said, "Yes, you did a great job--but your team still lost." That's saying you were good--just not good enough to win.

So often in life we, as adults, also need affirmation. We have a desire to win approval for the things we've accomplished---not matter how small they might seem.

Sometimes people need to hear a kind word spoken about them, despite the fact that they may not appear to be a kind individual. You never know how the words you speak into their lives---even as adults, can make a positive difference.