Tea Break Tuesday

I’ve enjoyed writing and found a good routine to make time for my practice.  My latest concern involves actually finding interesting subjects.  Poking around on other blogs, someone suggested different prompts for when you’re not sure what you’d like to write about. The idea of Tea Break Tuesday is to share what you’ve been up to currently.

Liam is such a big part of my life, it makes sense to write about him.  He is loving second grade!  He is even saying that he’s like to a second-grade teacher when he grows up! I am embarrassed to admit that I have not formally met his teacher because Mike represented us this year at open house.  Mike came home announcing, “You should’ve gone.  She’s just like you- another Google fanatic.”  I love what she has set up in terms of technology!  As someone whose own teaching revolves around technology, I am tickled that she has Liam on Google Classroom in second grade. Liam practices his spelling words on an app called Spelling City.  It not only lets him know when he is making progress, it lets us know how long and how many tries it took for him to master a skill.  She also sends assignments via SumDog, another program that I had him start doing last year.  I love seeing him become a big kid.

His biggest struggle is the balance between wanting to be big while holding onto things he loved when he was little.  He stressed himself a few times about his favorite stuffed bunny, Miles. When he was younger, Miles went with us everywhere.  We even bought a new Miles because Old Miles was getting worn out.  After forgetting him at school and fearing that Liam would be unable to sleep, we purchased School Miles.  Liam’s ability to do just about anything while holding Miles is awe inspiring. Miles was an extension of Liam. He still loves his bunny and sleeps with it each night, but worried that he was too old for his beloved stuffed animal, randomly bursting into tears when he thought about it too much.  It is a difficult, unexpected balance for him.  He wants to be a “big kid” and play Pokemon and Minecraft.  While he doesn’t play with his Thomas and Paw Patrol toys, he isn’t quite ready to give them up just yet.

Liam’s teacher invited stuffed friends to join them on Fridays to read.  Liam was excited to bring Roscoe, his stuffed dog. I couldn’t wait to ask him about the first Friday reading with friends.  Most of his classmates brought stuffed animals; the ones who didn’t were quite upset for forgetting.  The biggest takeaway was making Liam notice that most of his classmates also had stuffed pets.  Therefore, it was more than okay for him to have one.

Liam learned that he is not too old to have a lovie.  For the first time in about a year, he took Miles with him on the ride to school today, buckling him in when he left the car.   Liam finds little ways to let me know that he is growing up each day.  This was the first day he took his friends’ words over his Mama’s.  I’d be naive to think it will be the last time.