Parent-Teacher Conference

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Parent-teacher conferences were last week and I was anxious to see how Small Fry was doing in school. The boys are so different - Tater Tot, the 11 yr. old, is a worrier and freaks out if he even thinks he's forgotten something for school or gotten a bad grade.  Small Fry, the 9 yr. old, is my laid back kid that really doesn't worry about anything.  He just "goes with the flow" as I like to put it.  He could really go two weeks without worrying about brushing his teeth or taking a shower.  He's a typical boy's boy.  He also doesn't worry about his school assignments or grades that much.  That's the part that always worries me about Small Fry.  Small Fry is exactly like my Dad - he has all the charm and charisma in the world and is the most easy-going guy.  Tator Tot, on the other hand, is a worry wart and he came by it naturally-he's just like his Momma. 

When I went into the parent-teacher meeting, I was a little nervous but knew that Small Fry was loving his teachers and enjoying his school year so far.  It is a far cry from the hard year we had last year.  Mrs. T, his Math and Science teacher said he was a sweet boy and she loved having him in class but he was missing five assignments.  Uh-oh.  I told her that I ask him every night if he has homework and he tells me they get time in class to finish their work so he never has homework.  Oops-guess I better start checking his work online.  His reading teacher said he was doing ok but so far had a D in class.  He wasn't really putting a lot of effort into reading and he seemed to be guessing at the words instead of sounding them out.  She said he could pull his reading grade up and not to worry too much, but a D in my book is a horrible grade and unexceptable in our house.  I had a long talk with Small Fry about effort and trying really hard to get his work turned in on time and complete.  He told me he always tried really hard and looked completely perplexed as to why he would have a D in Reading.  *See how laid-back he is...it didn't even phase him* UGH.

I started thinking about how he does guess the word sometimes when reading and it started to bother me.  I made an appointment with the eye doctor and took him to get his eyes checked.  I loved the doctor we saw and found out that Small Fry has the same problem I do with my eyesight.  His eyes are two different strengths.  His left eye is worse than his right eye and the doctor said he might be trying to focus and having a hard time with it, thus, guessing at words when he reads.  That made a lot of sense when he started explaining it to me.  Small Fry got to pick out some cute little reading glasses that he'll only need when he's working on schoolwork or reading a book.  I was smart enough to pick inexpensive glasses with a warranty, as this will be a "rough and tumble" boy wearing them!

I'm anxious to see if his schoolwork will improve with the glasses.  I hope so because Small Fry is just so stinkin' cute and charming that I hate to reprimand him about his work.  I know he thinks he's really trying and doing his best.  I just want him to learn that schoolwork is a serious thing.

A cute side story about the boys -
When Tater Tot was 36 months old and Small Fry was 8 months old, my favorite next door neighbor Cathy said to me, "You know, Tater Tot will be the lawyer, doctor, stockbroker and Small Fry is gonna be the football player, girl chaser."  I asked why she thought that as I laughed out loud.  She said because she could already see that Tater Tot was the perfectionist and Small Fry was the charmer!  Ha! Ha!  That's so true!  That's exactly how they act at 11 years old and 9 years old!  That Cathy is so smart in her observations.