Friday, January 30, 2009

Kids, kids, and more kids.

Well, It's finally Friday. It's been a long week of late nights, and as a reward, I get the weekend? Jake is having two of his friends spend the night tonight. Heather invited a couple of girl friends to go with her to Youth group, who will also be spending the night, since they won't be back until midnight, or later.

So, it's just been me, Roy, and the guys all evening. Since I went grocery shopping this evening, it's worked out pretty well to have three healthy teenage boys to help me carry bags into the house. Of course, they feel that means that they get first crack at all the new food. So they ate their fill, played a few video games, and crashed out on the couch while watching Dawn of the Dead.

No sooner had the boys gathered themselves up and gone to Jake's room to sleep, than the girls came home with a chorus of giggles. It only took the girls about 5 minutes to settle down and zonk out as well. So, six teenagers, five dogs, one husband, and all is quiet. Not what I was expecting, but I'll take it.

I've got a bunch of errands to run tomorrow, but first, the dogs and I are getting out for a walk. They have forecast 65 degree weather tomorrow, and I promised them that we would take advantage of it.

Sometime this weekend, Roy and I need to sit down with Jake and have a talk. He is really starting to struggle lately. All through elementary school Jake was sort of a quiet kid, but well liked by his class mates. When Jacob started middle school, he knew that he would be surrounded by a lot of new kids from four other elementary schools. I suspect that he saw it as his chance to re-invent himself. Over the summer he lost weight, grew out his hair and had it high lighted, got contacts, grew about 6 inches, and gained tons of new confidence. He has now become very popular with the kids, (especially with the girls) and not so popular with the teachers, because all his popularity has come at a cost to his grades. Over the past few weeks, he's discovering that once the kids and teachers see you in a certain light, it's hard to make a change. This morning, he actually admitted that he's feeling very depressed and frustrated with the situation. I think that he needs a little help in finding a happy medium. He has always been a smart kid, but he has never had very good organizational skills, and managing his time and setting priorities - not exactly his strengths. Up until recently, he kept insisting that he could figure things out himself. I think he's finally ready to listen and accept some help. We need to help him set up a plan for balancing his social life with his studies. And I need to get him straightened out before Heather starts middle school in the fall. Just thinking about enrollment has turned her into a bundle of nerves and she's going to need some encouragement. (and an older brother who is a better role model wouldn't hurt either)

Well, I'm feeling exhausted and I need to get some sleep. Hope everyone has a great weekend. Good night.

Love,
Susan

2 howled back:

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't go back to my teenage highschool days if you paid me, so I have full sympathy for Jake and Heather. It's such a hard time really, with all those other kids.
I'm still struggling with peer pressure and I'm 34. argh!


Hope you get your walk...we've lost Barts' collar so he didn't get to go last night. woopys.

Wait. What? said...

Gosh the trade off to ebing popular or being smart - very rarely a kid gets it all both ways -

It brings back bad memories for me and yes even now peer pressure sucks!

(hugs)

Cat