Thankful for the imperfections...

Last night was my Parent-Teacher conference at Drew's school.


Last year in Kindergarten, all of our conferences went well...
Very well...
Drew is nice, smart, polite, above average, well-mannered, quiet....ect....


Our first conference of this year, 1st grade, also went very well..
His teacher mentioned that Drew finishes his work quickly, then becomes bored waiting for the other kids to finish, but never distracts them... and she said he isn't very patient when it comes to her reading the directions to the class, he prefers to read for himself and work on his own.. but still a pleasure to have in class....


Last night was a little different... 
Not bad.. just different...


Last night Drew's teacher went over some of his test with me and showed me where it was very obvious he wasn't taking his time to read thoroughly.... 
I thought maybe he was rushing so that he could be done first, but she said that wasn't the issue.. 
the issue is that Drew is OVERLY confident in his scholastic abilities..,
(if you know Drew at all, you know he is overly confident in anything he does... otherwise he won't do it)
Drew simply takes a quick look at a problem, writes down his answer and moves on... 
She wasn't overly concerned with the problem, just a little frustrated since she knows Drew is more than capable of answering these problems correctly. 


I, on the other hand, was not happy .... 
It's not just the information in the problems the teacher gives that he knows... I know that Drew knows how to correctly and affectively solve problems, whether it's a grammar problem, math facts, or any other subject... 
My son knows the correct way to handle his school work, and he's simply chosen not to. 
That is frustrating to me... 
and unacceptable in our house.


Then she tells me we have a potential "bully issue"...
How in the world could MY sweet, shy, tiny, adorable little angel possibly ever be taken for a bully? You've got to be kidding me...... 


Apparently Drew likes to "borrow" pencils from one of the little girls in class... 
He calls it borrowing because he asked once before and she allowed him... 
She calls it stealing because he never asked again after that day and when she asks for her pencils back, he refuses.... 


My kid is a pencil thief.
And if he didn't have a HUGE collection of random pencils at home, I may not have believed the teacher so easily... 
But she had me on this one.... 


So we talked about the pencil drama... reminded Drew he could go to jail for stealing pencils (hey, it got the point across... I hope) and he apologized. 


So my little love is not so perfect after all..... 
Yet I am thankful... 


I am thankful for the little boy that sleeps next to me every night (even though he kicks me)
I am thankful for the little boy who has the attitude of his mother and the smile of his father
I am thankful that I have my little boy.. at home with me.. in my arms... 
I am thankful for my son.. 


Tonight there will be parents going to sleep with out their children... 
and I am thankful that I am not one of them... 


I am thankful for my imperfect angel...