Holly has kept me busy the last twenty-four hours.
No, really, it is a good thing, I promise…..thank you Lord!
Holly is graduating from high school in two weeks……YES!!!!!
It has been a tough four years for us all. Somedays I half joked that she would graduate or she would die trying. When you are the type of student who made a career out of stressing over your G.P.A. dropping even a hundredth of a point, it is very hard to have a child, a very bright one at that, who just feels that school is a waste of her time.
There are a lot of physical, emotional, academic and social reasons for her lack of effort, her struggles and her rebellion. We, as parents, made mistakes too…..I defy any parent to tell me that they don’t and if you do, watch it because what you condemn could very well be yours someday, this I do know. We all in our family learned a lot these past four years. I found the best support was from friends who have children 5 years or so older than Holly. They were the ones who listened to my concerns, my frustrations, my fears. They never pointed out my mistakes or smugly pronounced from on high that there way was the one size fits all best way…..they just listened! They hugged me. The only advice they gave was, “Keep doing what you are doing, keep praying and trust me, it will settle down before her senior year and she will graduate.”
They, who had lived and survived it, with adult children to be proud of were right.
Last year, it was clear that Holly’s poor choices were catching up with her and it was unlikely that she would graduate with her class this year. The counselor’s options seemed to doom her to failure than success. Holly would have likely dropped out were it not for the fear that mom would make good on her promise about graduating or dying. Thankfully, one of my support showed me other options. An acquaintance from our church, who happened to be a counselor at another high school in town, validated for me that the options were indeed available to Holly. She even took the time to put together the necessary paperwork for Holly so all her counselor would have to do is sign the thing. It was clear that Holly’s counselor “gave up” so my new friend was making her job easier so Holly could get what she needed.
After that, it was if a light bulb clicked back on in Holly’s head. She seemed more focused, more relaxed and more like thegood kid we knew. The angry, I-hate-the-whole-world kid was gone. Independent studies was the best thing for her. She got through three years of work in record time and at this point is taking her finals. The algebra hurdle we are still sweating over a little as she has failed it three times over despite tutoring and hand holding. It is required in this state that all students must pass algebra in order to graduate. This makes it hard for some kids, who, like Holly, just are not wired for math no matter how you slice it. But her I.S. counselor is great and assures Holly she will pass this test.
Graduation finally seemed real yesterday as Holly worked on her announcements to mail out. I was surprised over the list of recipients of this announcement….people who have known her, prayed for her and influenced her throughout her life…..and the family too.
So today we went to the school she is going to be going to. The admissions interview went very well. She has another one next week to get all the financial stuff in order and if she gets into the class that she wants, she will be starting two weeks after graduation. Like I knew nursing was it for me, she knows this is the direction she wants. The school she chose has very high standards, has an excellent state boards pass rate and job placement rate as well. As the admissions counselor said, this is not the school to go to if your goal is to work at something like Supercuts or a small little shop. Ninety seven percent of their graduates are placed in high end shops or positions in the entertainment industry. All I know is that everyone who is in the biz is very impressed that this is where she will be going and that Holly is more focused than I have ever known her to be, even when she was taking the right ADHD meds.
She is a bright, eager budding young adult who knows what direction she is headed for in her life and that is exactly what I wished for and prayed for when she was a tiny baby .
Maybe in a couple more years, I can be the support like I received. For now, I am just going to be the proud mama of my soon to be high school graduate.
Holly has kept me busy the last twenty-four hours.
No, really, it is a good thing, I promise…..thank you Lord!
Holly is graduating from high school in two weeks……YES!!!!!
It has been a tough four years for us all. Somedays I half joked that she would graduate or she would die trying. When you are the type of student who made a career out of stressing over your G.P.A. dropping even a hundredth of a point, it is very hard to have a child, a very bright one at that, who just feels that school is a waste of her time.
There are a lot of physical, emotional, academic and social reasons for her lack of effort, her struggles and her rebellion. We, as parents, made mistakes too…..I defy any parent to tell me that they don’t and if you do, watch it because what you condemn could very well be yours someday, this I do know. We all in our family learned a lot these past four years. I found the best support was from friends who have children 5 years or so older than Holly. They were the ones who listened to my concerns, my frustrations, my fears. They never pointed out my mistakes or smugly pronounced from on high that there way was the one size fits all best way…..they just listened! They hugged me. The only advice they gave was, “Keep doing what you are doing, keep praying and trust me, it will settle down before her senior year and she will graduate.”
They, who had lived and survived it, with adult children to be proud of were right.
Last year, it was clear that Holly’s poor choices were catching up with her and it was unlikely that she would graduate with her class this year. The counselor’s options seemed to doom her to failure than success. Holly would have likely dropped out were it not for the fear that mom would make good on her promise about graduating or dying. Thankfully, one of my support showed me other options. An acquaintance from our church, who happened to be a counselor at another high school in town, validated for me that the options were indeed available to Holly. She even took the time to put together the necessary paperwork for Holly so all her counselor would have to do is sign the thing. It was clear that Holly’s counselor “gave up” so my new friend was making her job easier so Holly could get what she needed.
After that, it was if a light bulb clicked back on in Holly’s head. She seemed more focused, more relaxed and more like thegood kid we knew. The angry, I-hate-the-whole-world kid was gone. Independent studies was the best thing for her. She got through three years of work in record time and at this point is taking her finals. The algebra hurdle we are still sweating over a little as she has failed it three times over despite tutoring and hand holding. It is required in this state that all students must pass algebra in order to graduate. This makes it hard for some kids, who, like Holly, just are not wired for math no matter how you slice it. But her I.S. counselor is great and assures Holly she will pass this test.
Graduation finally seemed real yesterday as Holly worked on her announcements to mail out. I was surprised over the list of recipients of this announcement….people who have known her, prayed for her and influenced her throughout her life…..and the family too.
So today we went to the school she is going to be going to. The admissions interview went very well. She has another one next week to get all the financial stuff in order and if she gets into the class that she wants, she will be starting two weeks after graduation. Like I knew nursing was it for me, she knows this is the direction she wants. The school she chose has very high standards, has an excellent state boards pass rate and job placement rate as well. As the admissions counselor said, this is not the school to go to if your goal is to work at something like Supercuts or a small little shop. Ninety seven percent of their graduates are placed in high end shops or positions in the entertainment industry. All I know is that everyone who is in the biz is very impressed that this is where she will be going and that Holly is more focused than I have ever known her to be, even when she was taking the right ADHD meds.
She is a bright, eager budding young adult who knows what direction she is headed for in her life and that is exactly what I wished for and prayed for when she was a tiny baby .
Maybe in a couple more years, I can be the support like I received. For now, I am just going to be the proud mama of my soon to be high school graduate.
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Holly has kept me busy the last twenty-four hours.
No, really, it is a good thing, I promise…..thank you Lord!
Holly is graduating from high school in two weeks……YES!!!!!
It has been a tough four years for us all. Somedays I half joked that she would graduate or she would die trying. When you are the type of student who made a career out of stressing over your G.P.A. dropping even a hundredth of a point, it is very hard to have a child, a very bright one at that, who just feels that school is a waste of her time.
There are a lot of physical, emotional, academic and social reasons for her lack of effort, her struggles and her rebellion. We, as parents, made mistakes too…..I defy any parent to tell me that they don’t and if you do, watch it because what you condemn could very well be yours someday, this I do know. We all in our family learned a lot these past four years. I found the best support was from friends who have children 5 years or so older than Holly. They were the ones who listened to my concerns, my frustrations, my fears. They never pointed out my mistakes or smugly pronounced from on high that there way was the one size fits all best way…..they just listened! They hugged me. The only advice they gave was, “Keep doing what you are doing, keep praying and trust me, it will settle down before her senior year and she will graduate.”
They, who had lived and survived it, with adult children to be proud of were right.
Last year, it was clear that Holly’s poor choices were catching up with her and it was unlikely that she would graduate with her class this year. The counselor’s options seemed to doom her to failure than success. Holly would have likely dropped out were it not for the fear that mom would make good on her promise about graduating or dying. Thankfully, one of my support showed me other options. An acquaintance from our church, who happened to be a counselor at another high school in town, validated for me that the options were indeed available to Holly. She even took the time to put together the necessary paperwork for Holly so all her counselor would have to do is sign the thing. It was clear that Holly’s counselor “gave up” so my new friend was making her job easier so Holly could get what she needed.
After that, it was if a light bulb clicked back on in Holly’s head. She seemed more focused, more relaxed and more like thegood kid we knew. The angry, I-hate-the-whole-world kid was gone. Independent studies was the best thing for her. She got through three years of work in record time and at this point is taking her finals. The algebra hurdle we are still sweating over a little as she has failed it three times over despite tutoring and hand holding. It is required in this state that all students must pass algebra in order to graduate. This makes it hard for some kids, who, like Holly, just are not wired for math no matter how you slice it. But her I.S. counselor is great and assures Holly she will pass this test.
Graduation finally seemed real yesterday as Holly worked on her announcements to mail out. I was surprised over the list of recipients of this announcement….people who have known her, prayed for her and influenced her throughout her life…..and the family too.
So today we went to the school she is going to be going to. The admissions interview went very well. She has another one next week to get all the financial stuff in order and if she gets into the class that she wants, she will be starting two weeks after graduation. Like I knew nursing was it for me, she knows this is the direction she wants. The school she chose has very high standards, has an excellent state boards pass rate and job placement rate as well. As the admissions counselor said, this is not the school to go to if your goal is to work at something like Supercuts or a small little shop. Ninety seven percent of their graduates are placed in high end shops or positions in the entertainment industry. All I know is that everyone who is in the biz is very impressed that this is where she will be going and that Holly is more focused than I have ever known her to be, even when she was taking the right ADHD meds.
She is a bright, eager budding young adult who knows what direction she is headed for in her life and that is exactly what I wished for and prayed for when she was a tiny baby .
Maybe in a couple more years, I can be the support like I received. For now, I am just going to be the proud mama of my soon to be high school graduate.
Holly has kept me busy the last twenty-four hours.
No, really, it is a good thing, I promise…..thank you Lord!
Holly is graduating from high school in two weeks……YES!!!!!
It has been a tough four years for us all. Somedays I half joked that she would graduate or she would die trying. When you are the type of student who made a career out of stressing over your G.P.A. dropping even a hundredth of a point, it is very hard to have a child, a very bright one at that, who just feels that school is a waste of her time.
There are a lot of physical, emotional, academic and social reasons for her lack of effort, her struggles and her rebellion. We, as parents, made mistakes too…..I defy any parent to tell me that they don’t and if you do, watch it because what you condemn could very well be yours someday, this I do know. We all in our family learned a lot these past four years. I found the best support was from friends who have children 5 years or so older than Holly. They were the ones who listened to my concerns, my frustrations, my fears. They never pointed out my mistakes or smugly pronounced from on high that there way was the one size fits all best way…..they just listened! They hugged me. The only advice they gave was, “Keep doing what you are doing, keep praying and trust me, it will settle down before her senior year and she will graduate.”
They, who had lived and survived it, with adult children to be proud of were right.
Last year, it was clear that Holly’s poor choices were catching up with her and it was unlikely that she would graduate with her class this year. The counselor’s options seemed to doom her to failure than success. Holly would have likely dropped out were it not for the fear that mom would make good on her promise about graduating or dying. Thankfully, one of my support showed me other options. An acquaintance from our church, who happened to be a counselor at another high school in town, validated for me that the options were indeed available to Holly. She even took the time to put together the necessary paperwork for Holly so all her counselor would have to do is sign the thing. It was clear that Holly’s counselor “gave up” so my new friend was making her job easier so Holly could get what she needed.
After that, it was if a light bulb clicked back on in Holly’s head. She seemed more focused, more relaxed and more like thegood kid we knew. The angry, I-hate-the-whole-world kid was gone. Independent studies was the best thing for her. She got through three years of work in record time and at this point is taking her finals. The algebra hurdle we are still sweating over a little as she has failed it three times over despite tutoring and hand holding. It is required in this state that all students must pass algebra in order to graduate. This makes it hard for some kids, who, like Holly, just are not wired for math no matter how you slice it. But her I.S. counselor is great and assures Holly she will pass this test.
Graduation finally seemed real yesterday as Holly worked on her announcements to mail out. I was surprised over the list of recipients of this announcement….people who have known her, prayed for her and influenced her throughout her life…..and the family too.
So today we went to the school she is going to be going to. The admissions interview went very well. She has another one next week to get all the financial stuff in order and if she gets into the class that she wants, she will be starting two weeks after graduation. Like I knew nursing was it for me, she knows this is the direction she wants. The school she chose has very high standards, has an excellent state boards pass rate and job placement rate as well. As the admissions counselor said, this is not the school to go to if your goal is to work at something like Supercuts or a small little shop. Ninety seven percent of their graduates are placed in high end shops or positions in the entertainment industry. All I know is that everyone who is in the biz is very impressed that this is where she will be going and that Holly is more focused than I have ever known her to be, even when she was taking the right ADHD meds.
She is a bright, eager budding young adult who knows what direction she is headed for in her life and that is exactly what I wished for and prayed for when she was a tiny baby .
Maybe in a couple more years, I can be the support like I received. For now, I am just going to be the proud mama of my soon to be high school graduate.