Next week my son will begin his academic career - Kindergarten. He is a confident, in-the-moment kind of guy, so he seems pretty laid back about the whole thing. I love that about him. He is ready. He is already asking me questions like, "Why do people speak different languages?" And he loved the story I told him about how people used to think the world was flat. He thought it was hilarious! Now I'm not sure if those topics will be covered in Year One, but he'll get there.
What surprised me about embarking on this adventure is MY feelings about it. I figured I'd feel something, just not this. Sure, I'm sentimental about this rite of passage, this gateway into a larger world, but this feeling of trepidation that I keep trying to ignore is what I find so interesting. It boils down to this. I hope he doesn't feel like I did.
My son is a vibrant, smart, creative spirit who is full of amazing energy. He is interested in a lot of different things. I don't ever want him to think for one second that he isn't talented or that he doesn't have anything to offer the world. As I studied the usual subjects in school and even in my extra-curricular activities, I felt more and more generic, untalented and unimportant. I did well in school but because I didn't feel like I fit into any of the boxes that I was presented with, (I wasn't good in sports, I didn't want to be a doctor or a lawyer, I couldn't sing, and even though I loved to dance, I never could get good enough to get up on pointe, which I deemed to be the most beautiful thing in the world at age 9) I assumed those were the only boxes there was. It took many more years for me to find my boxes and undo the images I created from my earlier schooling.
I need to be careful not to put my stuff about school on my son. I do consciously try to bring his attention to a world of infinite boxes as I tend to my inner elementary school kid. I guess this is what they mean when they say "your children will raise you".
"Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid." - Albert Einstein
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