Thanks??

Yesterday we found out that Ben has FOR SURE made it into the same private school gifted program that Paige is in! It is a bit of a story so I'll condense it...or not....lol

Ben was tested a few months ago and 'missed' the cut off to get in by ONE POINT. Now I am not one of those mothers who thinks the sun rises and sets out of their kids ass (ok..but only sometimes!) but I DO know my kids better than any 'test result' and I KNEW he should be in this program. The school district results DID say 'Your child is gifted and we are offering him 'gifted services' at his present school '. Now this letter was confusing to me because it looked EXACTLY like the acceptance letter we got when Paige was accepted. So we THOUGHT he'd made it in...but he hadn't...glad I read that FINE PRINT! Anyways... not too sure we liked that but I kept an open mind. I made an appt with the school principal and the 'special services' teacher (I use that word loosely as she teaches 5th grade full time and vaguely monitors the 'gifted kids' in the school....). I sat in that office for a half hour while they tried to 'sell me' on their version of gifted services. Ben could join DI (Destination Imagination a science based 'club') and Math Olympiad after school. I said 'thats nice, but neither one are GIFTED programs. Any child can take them'. Well, then I was told Ben could work on his own on a new math program on the computer. Uh..he is SEVEN. Work on his OWN on a COMPUTER? Yah..he'll spend his time on nick jr or some such site! lol...I finally told them to just stop. That the district MANDATES that they provide gifted children in the school with a special program in conjunction with their regular classes and that I did NOT want Ben to merely get 'extra work' but wanted him to be challenged and motivated. I said "If I have to, I will be in his class every day to make sure he is getting what you are mandated by the district to provide'. You could see the two of them visibly cringe. I was their 'oh crap' parent! :) ( I LOVE being the oh crap parent!).

So..I realized that THIS solution was NOT going to be in Bens best interests. I called the school district and met with the Special Services Co-Ordinator and asked how I go about filing an appeal. She explained the whole process and gave me some really good pointers... so I filed an appeal with the school district who required a report from me as well as from Bens teacher. Bens teachers report was beyond words. I asked her 'is this MY child you are writing about?' lol....and MY report ran to four pages (imagine me being wordy!). I submitted it and was told that it would be reviewed and if it held merit they would consider re-testing Ben in the fall for admittance into the program NEXT year (2010/2011 school year). We waited a week and got a letter saying 'we've reviewed your appeal and feel Ben needs to be re tested for THIS YEAR'! WHEEEEE....I felt good vibes!! So Ben went for another test, this time not with ALL the 'flagged as possibly gifted kids' like the first test but an individual test. This test was also different in that while the first one focused on getting the right answers etc, this NEW test focussed on HOW he learns, HOW he gets the anwer..and they don't care if the answer is wrong, they want to see his thought processes...which for gifted children is FAR different than us regular learners! We waited two weeks.....and Tuesday morning got a phone call (a letter arrived yesterday) saying 'Ben tested OFF the charts! We would REALLY like him to be in the program! Do you want to accept this spot for him?" After all I'd been through, I was tempted for a brief moment to say 'uhhh...nahhhh it's ok'! Ahahahaha....Of course we accepted!! This is going to be a GREAT education for Ben (paid for by the district I might add!) as he is bored beyond belief with 'regular' school. Paige was in the public school system up to and including 3rd grade and she too was bored out of her mind. NOW she is challenged and using her brain and LOVING school (she is in 4th grade, but skipped 4th and 5th grade math..is doing college entrance spelling tests etc). Bens teacher (who also taught Paige for 1st and 2nd grade) said that while she thought Paige was smart and gifted, she sees even MORE of that in Ben.

So now you know the story..let me get to the title of my blog (at long last right? lol). I had someone say to me after I'd told them Ben had also gotten into this program "Hey Congrats! Way to Go! You and Mark have done a great job!". And while I said 'Thanks!' I had mixed feelings...yes, we DO do a great job of parenting (I think! lol)...we are involved with our kids, we go to all their 'events', we take them everywhere and talk to them like intelligent people (we've never 'dumbed' down our language for them)...also, there is a great gene pool to work with. Marks side of the family has most of the kids in gifted programs or advanced programs. Mark is brilliant himself. My brother is a bona fide genius. I mean REALLY..a REAL genuis. And while my biological father is a whole other story, he too I believe has 'giftedness' in his brain. So our kids also came from a great gene pool that apparently gets pretty deep when Mark and I mix those genes! lolol...

But I also thought to myself.....it really isn't ME...or MARK...after all, we have three other kids between us who while EXTREMELY smart and talented, aren't 'gifted'. I think it was just a good combination of Mark and I and a family history of good smart genes and a whole host of other small things that all added up let us hit the genetic crap shoot twice...So while I'd LIKE to take the credit..I only carried them in my body..I've only helped to raise them. God made them. He connected all their dots and made them who they are. Mark and I have merely been blessed to have them on loan for awhile.

But I'm am still darn proud....even if the sun DOESN'T really rise and set out of their asses! :)

Hugs to all,

Jaye