It's not the winning...

Today has been an incredibly emotional day, all day long it seems I have been filling up, swallowing lumps in my throat and seeing a bigger picture.
We got the boy's school reports today, once a year we get a report from teachers telling us how they have done in this latest school year. Throughout the year we can meet with teachers and are always welcomed, they will discuss and explain but only once do we get a written report.
Today was the day. Seth's report is rarely a surprise, we know he is clever, we know he doesn't have any trouble with the work. His report today did surprise me though, in that it is positively dripping with comments like
'He always behaves well and is a pleasure to teach"
and " From the moment Seth walks through the classroom door, his attitude is positive and he is a delightful member of the classroom, he works hard and is always eager"
Now, I have always been sure that Seth would never speak to his teachers the way he speaks to me, he doesn't speak to H the way he speaks to me, I appreciate Seth's wit and quick retorts but in all honestly I can tell you that this child will argue black is white. For fun.
We all know what he is capable of but my goodness if it isn't like pulling teeth to get him to actually DO anything ( that he doesn't love doing) from the time he could, Isaac has been Seth's lacky. To our astonishment he has run and been at Seth's beck and call without a murmur, Seth is asked to do something...Isaac does it, without question. 18 months ago we realised that this was not due to some feeling of inferiority on Isaac's behalf, more like a desire to see a job well done, he likes things done well, Seth does things so shoddily and so half heartedly and so painfully slowly that it hurts Isaac, he would rather step to it and just get it done, the right way than witness the torture that Seth causes when asked to move or help out in any menial task.
We saw that Isaac was not a dim servant when Seth, being a whole 3 feet from a bin, called Isaac a good 12 feet over to him saying " put that in the bin Ides!"
Isaac took the crumpled token and said " You are one lazy git" and took the rubbish to the bin.
Everything Seth has done, Isaac has completed at the same time..one year younger than Seth. Potty training, same time. Seth was 3, Isaac 2. Throwing away the bottles, same time, Seth 3, Isaac 2.
Seth read at 4....Isaac silently watched, took note, learned and read.
Isaac can ride a 2 wheeler bike, Seth no. Seth will not even try to ride a bike because he isn't sure he will be able to do it well, immediately. Seth does not like to fail or appear to be anything but perfect at a task, mediocrity is not Seth's bag.
So, I am thrilled to read how co-operative he is, how enthusiastic and willing. I love to see that is capable of working in a team, not always being the boss, that at school he is, quite frankly a star.
He had his sports day today and I gulped my way through the whole thing. He was SO keen to start and long before his classmates were ready he was in starters position, waiting for the off.
He was totally oblivious to where everyone else was in the race, so intent was he on doing everything perfectly. He didn't see, or care that most of the other kids were way ahead because they were dropping the beanbags and who cares?? RUN...WIN!!!
He ran his races with such complete dedication and enjoyed every one.











Then we had Isaac's report and WHOOHOO they are so thrilled with him.
When we read why they are so thrilled with him, we feel the need to smash our head against the nearest wall in frustration because, they seem to writing about some poor little imbecile that HOORAH can 'run into a space, change direction and speed' and 'catch balls of varying sizes and shapes kick a ball to another player!' ( Yeay! Go ISAAC, whoot....oh, hang on weren't you doing that at 2 1/2? Yes, I think you were!)
'He has mastered the art of reading but unfortunately, because he lacks language skills, he is unable to recount what he has read, he can answer an uncomplictaed question as long sa it does not require much speaking' ( which actually means he lacks the CONFIDENCE to speak, not the launguage skills. This boy can ( and does) read SCRIPTURE and tell us what it means.
WHO IS THIS THEY TALK ABOUT? Not my Isaac, no way my Isaac.
We all know that he cannot speak outloud, that his head won't let him talk when he wants to. We all know that he CAN talk though, we know that he understands and remembers EVERYTHING.
I did love " Isaac has emerged from his Crysalis this year" though.
I am going to invite his new teacher to come to our house and watch him, talk to him, see him. I cannot allow him to go another year with his teacher thinking he is a sweet little dimwit. The other problem is that he seems to go into the class Seth just left, I defy anyone NOT to compare them. Clever Seth who has been talking like a regular person since he was 10 months, with his super quick wit, his ability to say the right thing at the right time. Isaac with his silence, his sponge like mind that remember what goes where, who said what, names, places. With his huge brown eyes and his complete disinterest in what people think.
The little boy, who will ask for pancakes for breakfast and when we go into the kitchen will have put out, in order everything we need to make them, from ingredients to utensils, in a row, in the order we will need them.


And Elijah, splendid, regular, delicious Elijah Henry, at the end of his first stint in real school.



His report reads just like it should. He has reached every step expected of him, he is sweet, quiet ( wow!) he gets distracted in a group situation and needs bringing back to task. He is just a glorious boy of nearly 5 ( in 11 days!)

Then, as I left the supermarket today I saw, to my complete delight, a friend from church who has 4 children under 6 and who is pregnant with her 5th baby. Her 4th baby, also called Seth, is just a year old and a month or so ago, he was diagnosed with Hepatoblastoma, a 10cm tumour on his liver.
There she was, home for a short stay, from hospital. They are in a children's hospital a few hours away, the whole family staying in a Clic house, Seth is on a short break from his chemo and there they were, looking beautiful and strong. This little boy is astounding the doctors by not losing his hair, by sailing through his chemo and watching that tumour shrink. Early days but so far he is doing just great and it was so good to see his tiny face. He has lost so much weight because initially the tumour was pressing on his stomach and now from the chemo he is sick and vomiting ( though not so far on the latest round.
He has a facebook page that would ( I am sure ) welcome supporters. Such a journey ahead of him, this tumour is an evil one, it is right now inoperable but it IS shrinking which means that in the future, not too far away, he could be facing a big operation that will try to remove that monster.
So, all in all a happy day, so busy and full of good things.
I love having my blog so that I can record days like this.