A touch of reality

Posting four days a week isn't going to work out.  So I'll post whenever I have something awesome to say.  I know it's hard to believe that I can't come up with awesome every day of the week, but there it is. 

I was thinking about strengths and weakness today.  My strength is humor, but not when it's forced.  There is a fine line between funny and annoying.  Of course, everyone has their opinions as to what is funny.  My weakness is spelling and sometimes grammar.  I have the basic rules of grammar down, but once people start spouting off info about participles and spliced commas, my brain shuts down. 

My kids are all above level readers.  But they have weaknesses too.  All three could work on their organizational skills.  Unfortunately, we tend to dwell on the negative.  I spend a lot of time telling my kids how they should get organized so they can, yanno, find their assignments and turn them in. I do tell them how smart they are, but I think the positive can get lost in the negative. This is partly because they no longer see being smart as a positive.  They know they're smart.  It's just how they are. They still need to hear it from me, but I need to find other positives.

My oldest son is a really likable kid.  He's nice to everyone, even the socially awkward kids in his class.  I've noticed that most kids like to be around him.  This is a strength that I hope stays with him.  I should point this out to him.  He likes hearing nice things about himself.

My daughter has a fantastic eye for the arts.  She's great and drawing and uses color well.  I'm not sure how I feel about the super realistic zombie girl she drew yesterday - but it is a good drawing.  Creepy, but good.  (Yes this is the same child that freaked when I told her we could be standing in a haunted building.)

My youngest son is fun to be around.  When he is happy, you can't help but smile with him.  (The same is true of the opposite, but I'm focusing on positives here.)

As a parent, I do have to help my kids work through their weaknesses, but I also should point out their positives when I see them.  I need to look for more positives too.  Once their positives outweigh their negatives, I hope their weaknesses will seem small and easy to overcome.