Ah the evenings here at Casa de WE. Sometimes, it's smooth sailing. Sometimes, it's chaotic. Sometimes it's all sorts of loud up in here. Last night was not any of those things.
The weather was lovely, so the kids played outside after school. Totally fine. Great even! I can't always expect them to walk in the door and get straight to homework, right? Right. So they come in around dinner time. While I make dinner, I suggest/order they get started on their homework, in the kitchen, without the TV. Argue argue resist - mom wins, the kids are at the counter working. Of course, there are a few verbal assaults going on, which I promptly stopped in their tracks.
I'm feeling confident, assembling my well rounded meal to noursih my children when BAM. Elaine is in tears. I look over, she's writing words in cursive, three times each. "I don't think I'm meant to do cursive writing! I'm bad at it! Everything I do has to be rewritten! I'm not good at anything!" Um hello? All this over cursive writing? At the age of seven? FOR REALS. I start a thing about how she can too write, and she's just learning, and she needs to be patient etc etc. Then I tell her how she is a smart girl and that it's okay not to be perfect and that with practice it will get easier and easier. I reference a recent good math test. "But I only got that score once and someone else is always better than me and I'm just not good at any school stuff and I'm not smart!"
And so began a discussion about being your own biggest fan. Your own supporter. The importance of believing in yourself and trying instead of giving up. To which Elaine told me that she wants to believe in herself, but "that voice, my self-conscious, tells me I'm not smart and I'm not good at anything." My response? "Then it's your job to tell that voice to shut it up." I told her that no matter what she does or is we are people who will always love her. We've always got her back, but she also has to have her own. She needs to be proud of herself.
We had dinner and then read Unstoppable Me together. I hope she listened.
I know this has been an Elaine week, but seriously, what am I to do about this girl's self-esteem? She used to be so full of it and now... fading. Fast.
Meanwhile, I helped W study for his social studies test. He absolutely half-a&&ed the study guide, which I called him on. We gathered more accurate information, made a new study guide, and reviewed. We've had so many discussions about putting forth your best effort. He constantly assures me that he does. And yet, I'm not seeing it. I honestly could care less what grades he gets as long as he tries. I think he's ticked off that school isn't as easy as it used to be when he got straight As and didn't have to work as hard. Tough lesson to learn, but learning it now is better than later.
Then it was time for ice cream and showers and both of them needing me. 9:30 could not come fast enough!
