That's Evan and Vivian in the morning.
"Can you find us?"
"Nope - no idea. Give me a clue."
What decides where you end up? Some kids have a plan. I didn't. Just vague notions, parents who had resources and set the bar high, a great schooling, good friends, and lots of luck.
Can we as parents influence our children's chances of finding happiness? Probably not. But that doesn't stop us from fiddling. And time has come to fiddle with the knobs of Evan's life. Time to pick his school.
This morning I asked him. "Evan, do you want to go to Vivian's school or stay at Grace next year?"
Jo added "Stay with Rowan and Nora and your friends at Grace?"
Evan: "I want to go to Vivian's school"
We: "Ok..."
Evan: "No - I want to stay"
Jo: "But you can't do Taekwondo"
Evan: "No. No - I want to go to Vivian's school and learn Taekwondo"
Me: "They will speak to you in Spanish all day"
Jo: "So you will have to learn Spanish to do Taekwondo"
Evan: "I want to go!"
In Vivian case, we travelled for a year instead. And then Grace Garden was over and Vivian couldn't stay there any longer and we were forced to make the next decision. But Evan can go to Grace for another whole year. Or he could move to Magellan. For the last two years, we have kept our options open and had him test for Magellan. Today is the deadline for Magellan's 2014-15 admissions. Jo has signed the papers and left me with the checkbook.
"Can you find us?"
"Nope - no idea. Give me a clue."
What decides where you end up? Some kids have a plan. I didn't. Just vague notions, parents who had resources and set the bar high, a great schooling, good friends, and lots of luck.
Can we as parents influence our children's chances of finding happiness? Probably not. But that doesn't stop us from fiddling. And time has come to fiddle with the knobs of Evan's life. Time to pick his school.
This morning I asked him. "Evan, do you want to go to Vivian's school or stay at Grace next year?"
Jo added "Stay with Rowan and Nora and your friends at Grace?"
Evan: "I want to go to Vivian's school"
We: "Ok..."
Evan: "No - I want to stay"
Jo: "But you can't do Taekwondo"
Evan: "No. No - I want to go to Vivian's school and learn Taekwondo"
Me: "They will speak to you in Spanish all day"
Jo: "So you will have to learn Spanish to do Taekwondo"
Evan: "I want to go!"
In Vivian case, we travelled for a year instead. And then Grace Garden was over and Vivian couldn't stay there any longer and we were forced to make the next decision. But Evan can go to Grace for another whole year. Or he could move to Magellan. For the last two years, we have kept our options open and had him test for Magellan. Today is the deadline for Magellan's 2014-15 admissions. Jo has signed the papers and left me with the checkbook.
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