Growing Tall...Growng Stong!

Who would have imagined that in a short time we would be parents of two little boys with strong personalities and energy to boot! Welcome to the next phase of parenting. In April, I conducted my first research study with my colleague Jennifer Lewis Johnson on the intermingling of parenting stages and stages of child development. The research was my story of how becoming a parent of a school-aged child changed and influenced my parenting and response to every stage of development in my son's life. Feel free to take our survey and help us to gather more information on parenting at different stages. You can find it here. From 6 weeks old he was nurtured and cared for by his caregiver in a family childcare home called Honeygram's Childcare. She nurtured him and extended our parenting beliefs and values to grow him into a young man that was caring, eager to help others, and with lots of conversations and stories about everything. His little brother, began to grow right along with him, and then he launched to elementary school. On our last entry we talked about kindergarten ending, and now here we are at the end of the first quarter of 1st grade. What a difference a year makes! In 1st grade, children begin to develop a culture of how to get along with others, work as a group, and follow the guidelines. Today, I observed the little kindergarteners from last year, grown up and assuming roles to maintain the classroom environment. Giving commands, and providing guidance to each other to help the class run smoothly. It's as if, they discovered the secret rule, " Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." My most enjoyable moment as a parent is listening in on conversations without the boys knowing it. Today, the youngest was demanding that it's his turn to talk. In month's past brother would just ramble on as he did, without being interrupted by little brothers need for conversation. Now that he's two days away from turning four, there's an urgency to get his turn, and share his story. I can't wait to see who they become, and how they continue to grown in their own way to become mighty men of valor and movers and shakers in the earth. Let's wait and see!