March seems to be a month where all of us are learning new things. It is exciting, fun, frustrating, confidence-depleting and building at the same time (it IS possible) and at times exhausting!!!
Steve is learning to juggle work (with its many new and exciting tasks), scoutmaster responsibilities, being a daddy and husband, and trying to grow and expand himself as a person. Thank goodness he has found a way to incorporate several of these things into one. He has decided that as a reward for each scout who earns their Eagle, he will give them a custom-made knife to commemorate their accomplishment. He is hand-carving the handle and tooling the leather for the holder. This is something he has never done before and is excited to take on the challenge.
I have been asked by the Relief Society presidency to make the baby gifts for all the babies born into our ward this year. The crocheted socks for the girls is a no-brainer. I LOVE making these (thank you Sharron for teaching me how). The gift for the boys has been a little more of a challenge. I found the cutest pattern for "dude" bibs and have struggled with putting together different fabric patterns and choices as well as following the directions which have proven to be a little cryptic. I am proud to say that I stuck to it and the bibs turned out really cute.
All they need now is a tag for the pocket that says, "FUTURE MISSIONARY".
I am also learning how to deal with seven three-year-olds during singing time and class time. It has been a long time since my mind has had to think at this level and it is hard going back. I have the cutest kids in my sunbeams class, but I have forgotten just how much energy they have and how much work and patience it takes to keep that energy focused. Sister Cobb and I will get it all worked out eventually. This is exhausting!!
Jeremy learned that he does NOT like track. He went to the first two days of tryouts and came home completely exhausted and in pain. We talked about it and decided that he had put 100% effort into trying out and he was not going to enjoy being on the track team. This helped him out of a scheduling bind he was in as well. He had committed to the school play as a stage crew member and due to a delay in the track tryouts, the two were overlapping. Jeremy was relieved to not have to choose. I am so proud of him from trying out. He had an interest in track and wanted to see if it was for him. He stuck it out through the whole first two days of tryouts before realizing this was not his thing. This was frustrating and confident-depleting!
The next day when I got to school to pick up Jeremy he was a completely different kid. He had been through his first day of stage crew and LOVED it. There is always something to do and he feels like he is really contributing. His first comment to me after buckling his seat belt was , "Somebody told me 'Good Job!' today and it wasn't because what I did sucked and they were trying to make me feel better. It was because I really did a good job." I think he has found his niche. What started out as an apparent failure turned into something that was very confidence-building.
Nicholas is learning the ropes of being a new Boy Scout and is excited about all the new things he is learning and will be learning. He also FINALLY got a basketball hoop and can be found out back shooting hoops whenever he has a spare minute. He skills are growing daily and he is having a blast. He has also been invited to attend after-school tutoring for the upcoming End of Grade tests. This is the first year he will be taking this type of test and he was very nervous about not doing well. His grades in every subject are strong, but the teacher recognized his anxiety and sent him a special invitation to the sessions to help him with his confidence. He is relieved and thrilled.
Naomi is in soccer again this season, after taking a couple of seasons off. She has found that she really does love to play the game and that if she pushes herself just a little bit harder she can excel at both defense AND offense. She scored the first goals of the season for her team. In fact, they were the only goals of the game for her team. Once that first goal went in, she instantly forgot about how tired she was and put all her energy into making sure her team won the game. This has translated over into other areas of her life as well. She is more willing to push herself just to see what she really can accomplish.
As you can see, we are all trying to better ourselves a little each day. We are rising to the challenges and facing them with courage, perseverance, patience and hope. In the process we are discovering that once we tell ourselves we can do it, we actually can do it. Success is contagious!!!
