A small success

[Not_a_Number]

I spend so much time on here complaining or troubleshooting or issuing dire predictions that I thought it’d be fun to reverse the trend and post a mini-brag!

We’ve always been pretty concerned about DD8’s social life, so before the pandemic, we spent TONS of time at our local homeschool center and taking other classes. Last fall, I also started teaching two math classes there, one of which DD8 attended. I also traded off with a local friend and took her kiddo to classes, and she did the same for me. When the pandemic hit, we stopped going to classes, but we attempted to do virtual play dates, which kind of dried up by the end of the spring.

Well, I realized DD8 wasn’t spending any time with her friends in the summer, so I decided to run a Zoom math class for her friends in the fall. The time we’d invested pre-pandemic really came in handy, since we knew enough kids that it was possible to schedule a small casual class where DD8 was friends with all the kids.

Before the winter, DD8 requested another such class, so I organized a little poetry class with another teacher for the same group of kids (plus a few more). And a few weeks ago, DD8 announced she’s starting a club, and that she’d invite her friends to be members. 3 of the 4 kids became super excited, and they’ve now spent time after math class picking a club name, symbol, and password. And one of the kids made a website for it!!

Anyway, it feels like the time invested in DD8’s social life really paid off. So, yay!! I post way more about our math and our academics, but this has always been a top concern of ours, and I just wanted to celebrate 🙂 .

Edited January 29, 2021 by Not_a_Number

[Lilaclady]

Nice!!! Always nice to celebrate the wins- social, emotional, academic or relational. They all matter. 

[TravelingChris]

Great!  It is a wonderful to see your children develop!

[Lecka]

Wonderful!

[MEmama]

That’s awesome! Yes to celebrating successes—thanks for sharing! 🙂 

[Not_a_Number]

1 hour ago, Lilaclady said:

Nice!!! Always nice to celebrate the wins- social, emotional, academic or relational. They all matter. 

Oh, definitely! Honestly, I worry about the social stuff more than the academic stuff with this kiddo. The academics are SO easy for her. The social stuff is fine, but definitely asynchronous with the academics... she has always been a tiny bit behind if anything, whereas academically she’s many years ahead in lots of areas.

Edited January 29, 2021 by Not_a_Number

[Amy Gen]

6 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

Oh, definitely! Honestly, I worry about the social stuff more than the academic stuff with this kiddo. The academics are SO easy for her. The social stuff is fine, but definitely asynchronous with the academics... she has always been a tiny bit behind if anything, whereas academically she’s many years ahead in lots of areas.

We talk about that a lot here. I have some kids who seemingly just absorb academics from the air but are challenged and maybe just a little uninterested socially. My middle daughter actually has to study to get good grades, but she has always made and kept friends easily. Now that she has graduated from college, she has a slew of people helping her get housing and recommending her for jobs. 
 

My son said that she is the one who has what it takes to be successful because we have all seen the extremely dedicated and competent worker get passed over while the worker who does okay work, but whom everybody likes being around keeps getting promoted. 
 

I’m doing a little better balancing things with my 2 youngest kids. One tends more towards scholarship and and tends more towards social activities but neither of their bends are as extreme as the ones my older kids have. 

[fraidycat]

So awesome! Great job modeling how it's done!

I know what a huge win that is. I also had one whom I worried about socially. She's 18 now, and though still shrinks back into the shadows in large groups (she's more comfortable one on one or small groups), she's got a few close friends and a social life and is doing well.

[Not_a_Number]

6 hours ago, fraidycat said:

So awesome! Great job modeling how it's done!

I know what a huge win that is. I also had one whom I worried about socially. She's 18 now, and though still shrinks back into the shadows in large groups (she's more comfortable one on one or small groups), she's got a few close friends and a social life and is doing well.

Sounds like me, lol! 

I'm also not the most social person, even though I've pretty much outgrown it. However, I'm pretty sure I know why DD8 might have social difficulties 😉 . Honestly, she's more sociable than I was as a kid, although part of that may just be having parents who haven't decided it doesn't matter. My parents (and grandparents) decided that I ought to not go to preschool, then I got sent to school 2 years early... there was a certain lack of focus on social development 😉 . I'm trying hard not to repeat this performance!! 

DD4, on the other hand, is a total social butterfly with stellar intuition about people's emotions. I'm not worried about her socializing at all 😄 . Sometimes, I worry about her morality, though, because she's a very naturally manipulative child -- comes with being emotionally aware, highly gifted, and extremely stubborn 😉 . 

[Not_a_Number]

They are having a club meeting after my (Zoom) math class!! 😄 I’m sitting out here drinking tea, chilling, and patting myself on the back for a job well done...

Edited February 10, 2021 by Not_a_Number

[Scarlett]

I love this post.  Thank you for sharing.  🙂

[mathnerd]

It is so cute that 8 year olds thought about passwords for their club meetings 🙂 Good job, mom, on modeling how to find fun ways to socialize in the middle of a pandemic!

[Not_a_Number]

5 minutes ago, mathnerd said:

It is so cute that 8 year olds thought about passwords for their club meetings 🙂 Good job, mom, on modeling how to find fun ways to socialize in the middle of a pandemic!

I think “modeling” is wrong since I suck at Zoom socializing 😂. But I’m really glad the class gave her the idea.

Edited February 10, 2021 by Not_a_Number

[Not_a_Number]

And the club continues! They've now picked a time for a weekend meeting as well. DD8 is doing really well finding projects for the club out of her Daring Book for Girls and Dangerous Book for Boys (she has both, lol.) Overall, I'm kind of awed that she's this enterprising 😄 . 

I hope you don't mind all the updates, but I've been super happy at this turn of events. It has really made me feel like we've done as well as we possibly could have during the pandemic. 

Edited March 8, 2021 by Not_a_Number

[Familia]

Brag away, this is fun news! Your daughter is quite industrious!

[Not_a_Number]

2 minutes ago, Familia said:

Brag away, this is fun news! Your daughter is quite industrious!

She’s definitely the Energizer Bunny of my 2 kids!

[Scarlett]

1 hour ago, Not_a_Number said:

And the club continues! They've now picked a time for a weekend meeting as well. DD8 is doing really well finding projects for the club out of her Daring Book for Girls and Dangerous Book for Boys (she has both, lol.) Overall, I'm kind of awed that she's this enterprising 😄 . 

I hope you don't mind all the updates, but I've been super happy at this turn of events. It has really made me feel like we've done as well as we possibly could have during the pandemic. 

This is amazing and happy news.  Thanks for sharing.  I LOVE those books.

[Not_a_Number]

3 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

This is amazing and happy news.  Thanks for sharing.  I LOVE those books.

We do, too!!

[Melissa Louise]

Funny clubs story - when my dd was about 6, she was obsessed with teenagers. So she asked me if she could start a teenagers club and invite the h/s teens she knew. She wanted to have meetings at the local cafe and discuss lipgloss 🙂 I dissuaded her from the club, but some of the teens were pen-pals to her for a long time. Kids are cute. Glad you had a success. 

[Anne]

Brag away (although I really don’t think this is bragging!!)   I’m sure I’m not alone in enjoying good news!  We are rejoicing with you!!

 

Anne

[Not_a_Number]

1 hour ago, Melissa Louise said:

Funny clubs story - when my dd was about 6, she was obsessed with teenagers. So she asked me if she could start a teenagers club and invite the h/s teens she knew. She wanted to have meetings at the local cafe and discuss lipgloss 🙂 I dissuaded her from the club, but some of the teens were pen-pals to her for a long time. Kids are cute. Glad you had a success. 

That's funny!! Yeah, my DD8 also really liked big kids when she was little. She went to public kindergarten and they had a "buddy" program, so she had a 6th grade buddy... she was a big fan of that situation.