Meli's world

I find so many of the lessons God teaches me come through parenting. The week before last, I encountered one of those situations as a mom that made me feel like Momma bear ready to protect her cubs at all cost. My son Emmanuel, has been dealing with a difficult kid all year long. I found that it seemed like no matter what, it was difficult for my son to get along with this boy. He told me stories of this boy being rude, calling others names, and making fun of anything my son did including him getting new glasses. Our response as parent, was always for Emmanuel to choose kindness and respond with an encouragement for the kid to remind him he could do better. Emmanuel was slowly losing his patience.  And I couldn't understand why they budded heads so much when they were once friends in 1st grade. I didn't address any of these stories with my son's teacher until the day he came home telling me the other boy kicked him. That same day an email went out to my son's te...

  I know it's been a while since I last wrote, so why not break the dry spell with what I've been going through and what I'm learning. School started about a month ago here in Florida. For my little one Emeli, that meant starting pre-k. I'm not sure what she envisioned it to be but she was super excited. She talked about it for weeks, we went shopping and she couldn't wait to start. The first week went ok. Then the next week, she hated the place. She was refusing to go. Crying about it at home. Didn't want to talk about school at all and just was making herself miserable and anxious about it. So we did what every parent would do and switched schools. She started there fine too. And it seemed to be a more hands on and playing curriculum than the other school. However a couple days into it, again she was refusing to go. Except this time we knew she loved it. She was coming home talking about her friends, all she did and how nice her teacher was. Thi...

  “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6 There’s always so much you want to be able to teach your child. I wonder a lot if my teaching Is effective or if they will really remember all I say. Not only in the classroom education part of it, but in the person side of it. For them to be loving, caring, forgiven, to know truth, to stand for truth, etc.   And then there are those moments, where we learn something from our kids. And we are reassured that they are learning and my prayers for them to be able to stand up for their beliefs is working. Emmanuel, my oldest who is 6 is a little clown. He loves to talk and sing and is very outspoken.   He has always been one that I can have conversations with since he was 2. Quick to talk, quick to learn and way advanced for his years. In the past month, my husband and I have also had the privilege to be his teachers at church and go in further detail...

That's it. The kids are off to bed. His uniform and shoes are all laid out. His transformers backpack is packed and his lunchbox is set out in the kitchen. His first day of first grade awaits him. And all I want to do is cry. When I was a kid, I hated school. It had a lot to do with not knowing any English as I started kindergarten and being placed in an E.S.O.L. Class with a teacher who only spoke Creole. I was sent to timeout all the time for not following directions. Directions I could not understand. After various doctor visits, plenty absences and even trips to the psychologist, they finally found out what was wrong. I hated school! Eventually, I got a new teacher, learned English and made friends yet somehow the damage was already done. I dreaded going there. I can still smell the expo markers and the BBQ sauce from the cafeteria. Perhaps that's why I graduated early and never went to college. Thankfully, our son has had a different experience. English is his firs...