Smith Family Weblog

The girls completed their second trimester last week, and we had parent-teacher conferences for both. Ava’s doing exceptionally well in most everything, though her teacher noted she rushes through story problems, sometimes to her own detriment. (Given they all look like this to me, I have a feeling I’m somewhat responsible for any shortcomings here.)

As Ava approaches nine, she’s becoming more and more poised. She’s helpful at home, and only hassles me about my requests for help with chores 75 percent of the time, which is a noticeable improvement over the past year. She’s incredibly independent, and really wishes we’d treat her like the 16-year-old she believes herself to be. Ava has a small circle of sweet friends, and so far we’ve avoided the drama that seems to come around this stage. I desperately hope that continues.

Olivia is basically made for kindergarten, and her teacher reports she’s doing very well across the board. We’re fortunate to have a great enrichment program at our school, and both girls are benefiting from extra engagement in math and reading. Olivia will soon be adding in a component that includes research projects with the school librarian. This is remarkable to me, because at home this child would rather sleep or watch TV than do anything remotely scholarly. She spends the better part of her free time playing computer games and picking fights with her sister, so I’m thrilled she seems to be doing well in the classroom. She has a remarkable sense of humor, but doesn’t yet realize we’re laughing because she’s legitimately funny. She’s mercurial, this one. Sweet as can be one moment, and absolutely furious the next. Never one to temper her emotions, that’s for sure.

We’ve had a great school year so far with snow days, Girls Scouts, gymnastics and playdates. Hard to believe Ava only has two more years left in this school–she’ll move on before Owen starts kindergarten. So, while our days seem complicated logistically now, I know our lives are only going become more challenging as the years go by. Good thing we have these to to keep us focused on what really matters.