Tuesday, November 03, 2009

The Existentialist

This afternoon my seven year old suddenly turned to me (at Target, of all places) and said:
I'm so glad that I exist! Can you imagine how I'd feel if I didn't exist?
He also said he was happy that he existed in our particular family (he says that quite often, which is reassuring). He is a confident child and he's bright, I just wish he would work harder in school. I'm often upset with the fact that I have lots of trouble to get him to work with certain things (mostly writing) at school and I feel extremely aggravated with him (and then guilty about it). It's somewhat of a relief to know that he had these problems at the other school, with me and the other teachers. Maybe I'll blog more about it some other time, but maybe I won't...

Meanwhile, I'm reassuring my son of my unconditional love and support and telling him that I'm also glad he exists!

1 comment:

kate said...

That's sweet that he said that!

My oldest son hates working on writing (meaning the handwriting aspect, not the creative aspect) as well. I think that level of fine-motor control doesn't come easily to a lot of boys at this age (though he draws very well, apparently that uses a different part of the brain.) Also he finds it difficult to pay attention in class often and says he's bored. So, it's not just you.

Did you ever read The Trouble With Boys? I think you would find it interesting, as a mom and an educator.