Ohhh... A Joy of Motherhood...

I am so proud of my son.  I've been thinking today..and the last little while.. how Alma Claude is growing into a young man whom I'm so very proud of.  This past summer he started, with his brother Paul,  his own little business doing yard maintenance for people in the community.  It changed him a LOT...having that responsibility.  He's learned a lot about managing money, managing his time, service to others, what's successful and what's not, how to deal with people who want to take advantage of him, developed a good work ethic, learned accountability through being the one who's on the line to make sure the job gets done and it's acceptable to the "customer", and through it all, gained a lot of confidence in himself that he has control of his life and he's the one that will make himself the person he wants to be.  Even though he's had his brothers help him, he's been the one that has managed the project, been the contact person for people in the community, and has been the leader in working, getting the job done well, and making sure the boys get paid for the work they did.  I am so joyful watching him develop this maturity.  It's such an essential part of what will create success for him as an adult.  And I've worried so much that he wouldn't be able to develop this.  

He's such a sensitive person.  I've always known this about him..but I watch him and realize I haven't tuned in to this near as much as I could have.  He's very intelligent.  He cares about people..and about treating others fairly and kindly.  He's had difficulties socially in school because he won't "run with the crowd".  He's always walked to the beat of his own drum.  He has a deep sense of justice.  He has a basic love for people.  He'll befriend the social under dog against the teasing and criticism of his peers.  I love seeing that he has enough sense of his individual self that he'll do what he thinks is right above having the acceptance of the people around him.  He's had a lot of struggle with being motivated to learn.  But this summer changed him.  This year, I don't have to nag him about his homework.  He monitors it himself and is keeping caught up with his class work.  He's forging mentoring relationships with his teachers.  He's confident socially.  He still doesn't run with the popular crowd, but they seek his association.

He's very creative.  He's been terrible at writing.  Doesn't spell words right.  Doesn't have a big vocabulary.  Had difficulty writing complete sentences and understanding how language works.  He wouldn't capitalize his sentences or put punctuation where it needed to be.  I was very worried and had many talks with his teachers about the problem.  But at the end of the school year last year, one of his teachers talked with him about writing and the out come of that conversation was that he decided to write a book.  It's fantasy.  I've read parts of it and am quite impressed because he's learned how to write.  He edits his writing and has taught himself the proper sentence structure, punctuation, spelling, and vocabulary he needs to write down the story he's created in his head.  He uses a dictionary regularly.  AND he's spent hours and hours of his free time working on it..and continues to work on it.  He's very serious about it and wants to get it published.

He's also very artistic.  He draws amazingly well.  I'm encouraging him to take art classes to develop this talent.  And, surprisingly, he's decided he wants to learn how to play the guitar.  So, a friend gave him a guitar, I helped him buy some books, and he's found himself a mentor who lives in the neighboring community, Cane Beds, to teach him guitar.  He also is working with one of his teachers who will help him learn it.

There is no feeling in the world like watching your children learn how to create a life for themselves with a work ethic that will bring them many experiences that will develop them into a well rounded person and create for them a happy, productive, fulfilling life.

I love him very much..and will in spite of his choices.  My love for him will never go away.  But it brings a lot of happiness to me to see him happy and full of confidence..and developing successful values.  And he's choosing it for himself.  NOT because he feels like it will please his parents, but because he sees that it's what will bring him success in his life.