The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, & the TRUTH
Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
~Philippians 4:8
THE GOOD
Our teen who says she has only gotten F’s her whole life is finally getting some SPED accommodations (easier textbooks). Now that she can read the texts she is motivated! She is very focused during the day, and one of my other daughters told me she has been working on catching up on work late at night! Her grades have inched up to a C- and two A’s!
WE ARE SO PROUD OF HER!!!
I love seeing her confidence and smiles grow.
All our high schoolers caught up on their work yesterday, and all our foster teens (including junior highers) are getting better grades overall than they ever have. Our bio kids are getting their usual A’s and B’s.
THE BAD
The foster siblings who lived with us for a year reverted to some of their initial struggles they seemed to overcome before their siblings moved in. Our hard-working future doctor who has been catching up in school has been distracted and has fallen behind. Some of her confidence has slipped, and she has lost her opinion to whatever one of her older sisters wants to do. After talking to her about it, she was sad, but her little fighter self is emerging again. With four kids with SPED needs, I had missed the fact that she quit doing English, and her grade slipped to 42%!!! Heart attack.
Another foster daughter has started being mean to her siblings again and had a crying meltdown because she thought no one liked her. She shared four examples that I discovered were things that happened last week, and the week before, etc. The tears flowed! She didn’t understand that it makes people not like her when she says and does mean things.
Our youngest has become more dependent, acting younger and less confident than she had been becoming. The good thing is that she has kept her opinion. When she first moved in, her sisters would answer every question for her and tell her and me what she wanted. We have not fully digressed and I think that all of them have come far enough that we will be able to regain their progress in confidence, kindness, and focus.
THE UGLY
Ok, the ugly heart attack moment I had yesterday was when we chose who got to go pick out the tree this year. With COVID, we couldn’t take 11 of us into Lowes. After we did our Saturday school (1-2 hours), we asked to see the kids’ grades. THREE of our kids had one or more grades below 50%! They have been working during school, but they began ignoring their least favorite classes. We try to look at grades each week, but last week it got overlooked.
We didn’t have to draw names like I told the kids we would. The kids who had passing grades and were current on all their work got to pick the tree with my husband while I stayed back and helped the kids who had less than 50% in a class catch up.
THE TRUTH
We have to choose to See the Good. I choose NOT to focus on the overwhelming mess in the garage, my room or even all the Christmas stuff all over the floor in front of me right now as we plan to continue decorating today. Other areas, such as school, vehicles, or work, can steal my joy if I focus on the needs. However, today I choose to focus on the good and be thankful for the precious children and my husband that are so dear to my heart.
I will not let the bad and the ugly steal my joy!
We are all doing our best, and it is enough.
You are probably doing the best you can too.
Be kind to yourself as you continue to
Be Brave & Love Well
~ Robin