Bloom

Last Thursday was Jacob’s fifth grade graduation from A.R. Ware Elementary School.  We’re very sad about that in a way.  As the years go by we feel his gravitational pull into independence getting stronger and stronger.  Our conversations with him are becoming more emotionally intense and the topics of discussion less childlike and more adult in nature like sex, drugs and peer pressure. 

And if you’re thinking 5^th grade is too young for those types of conversations, then you’re naive. 

After his graduation, Justin and I sat on the back deck and bounced around the idea of moving out of the city or enrolling Jacob in the city’s private middle school.  We are afraid.  We’re afraid he will cave into peer pressure and make bad decisions.  But, the more we rolled around ideas and worked through the pros and cons, we came to the realization that no matter where Jacob (or Abbey) attends school, or call home, they ultimately have to bloom where they’ve been planted.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned as a parent is that it’s not my job to tell our children what to do, but give them a foundation and the tools for life.  We can’t pick out their friends, we can’t prevent them from experimenting, we can’t make them more athletic or smarter or prettier or social; but we can teach them right from wrong and consequences.

No matter what life challenges are ahead of them, as parents we’re going to plant the seeds of knowledge and morality, nurture their spirits and hearts, and watch them grow.