It is Sunday morning and somehow, Saturday passed me by. Saturday morning, I got up late, about quarter to eight. The rest of the house slept and it was quiet, peaceful, it was wonderful. Everyone needed rest, I included, but I was awake, so I got up. Friday night we had been out at a – you guessed it – high school football game Friday night and had been the last off the field as William and Olivia helped the grounds crew pick up the yard markers, end zone cones, and put them away for another week and perhaps the season. The Tigers had made the state playoffs but have had a difficult season dropping three games this year. They won Friday night, but next week play the number one seed in the bracket – in their stadium, so it will be interesting.
This morning, the phone rang and woke Beth and me up. She went back to sleep, or tried to and I came downstairs, let Ivy out and made coffee. We let the kids sleep; they had been at a neighborhood Halloween party until late Saturday night and come home tired and ready for bed. Usually there is a bit of a fight or tussle, but not last night. Olivia was asleep before her head hit the pillow, and William was asleep quickly as well.
It is great sleeping weather. The nights have gotten cooler, a lot cooler since the beginning of October, and last night the thermometer dipped down into the low thirties. It is great to cover up and fall asleep all warm and toasty.
Yesterday, we finally brought William into the cell phone age. He has been bugging, really hounding, us about getting a phone since sixth grade and we held out until yesterday. A few years ago, Aunt Jill gave him an old iPhone and he has held on to the idea having it actually work. Yesterday, after an hour or so of asking questions and getting information, we left the AT&T store with a new iPhone. The old one will be passed down to Olivia – for home use only! He was pretty excited and I can’t blame him. The phone was a reward for his grades (in middle school) and his standardized test scores from seventh grade. Every year in March Illinois tests 3rd through 8th grade in Math and Reading and the weekend before ISATs, he whined that he hated ISATs. I do too, but that is beside the point. I told him they were important and he needed to do well on them and he asked why. I responded that the state measures how school districts perform using the ISATs and that his ISAT scores measure how much he has grown academically. He replied he has good grades and I said, ‘yeah, you do, but the test is same test all seventh graders take across Illinois and it measures what you are supposed to be learning.’ He sighed and looked like it wasn’t a really good answer, and to be honest it isn’t. I don’t like standardized tests and the ‘hoopla’ that surrounds them, but it is how the public (really, the media) measures the effectiveness of public education (private schools do not take them, hmmmm wonder why?). I am getting wayyyy to political and I am off on a tangent, which is a surprise in my writing. He didn’t seem to buy it, and I wouldn’t have, either. So, I threw it out there,
“You meet or exceed state standards on your ISATs and we’ll get you a phone.”
“Really?” he replied.
“Yes, we’ll get you a phone or activate the iPhone.” I re-affirmed.
It way out there and Beth gave me a double-take and ‘the look.’ We hadn’t talked about it, or even discussed it, it was just out there.
That was last March. The scores came home in September and he met the state standards and did very well on the tests – growing significantly in reading and math! Now, he has a phone and joins the rest of his peers who have one. I made the first phone call and text in the store, really the AT&T salesman made the first, but as the AT&T guy pointed out, mine was the first important call and text. Nice.
I am not sure how this is all gonna play out, but he worked his rear end off in the yard when we got home and was full of thank yous and pleases. I am sure it will wear off and sooner than later, he is after all an adolescent. But, it was a good day and I sent a text a moment ago and he must still be asleep because he didn’t reply. Today is gonna be a great day, I know it will. We’ll be carving pumpkins and getting ready for the big day Monday afternoon. I’ll keep you posted. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, even one promise followed through on, at a time.
Have you ever made a promise and had to carry through on it and wondered if you made the right choice?
Yes…promised Mom & Pop I would do what they wanted…keep the family together and carry on the family traditions…I just have to remember that there will come a time when they will probably make their own traditions. It has already started with one niece…she gets pulled between her mother’s family, her father’s family (us), and her boyfriend’s family (she has been with Ron for 6 years). I’ve told her I understand…I am not a nag. She has to make the choices that are best for her.
I made the right choice in making that promise to my parents and I believe it gave/gives them comfort. I’m also wise enough to know that it’s a promise they knew could be kept ONLY until the time it’s supposed to change. Things change and that’s the way I guess it’s supposed to be.
With family traditions your family grows richer by adding and creating its own traditions. It is tough to have to choose between one family and another.
YEP SOUNDS LIKE FUN!
shouldn’t you be workin’ on your HW?