Q, R and S are for.... Quiet, Relief and Success!

I am writing this from a quiet home.  G man spent the night at my in law's last night after his Tae Kwon Do competition.  The big kids are at school and I have yet to start the dishwasher or anything else noisy.  I have chatted on the phone but that doesn't count as noise.....at least to me.  I will enjoy it while it lasts, because it won't be long.

I have to tell you, I am experiencing a huge sense of relief because the hubs and I have decided what we are going to do about the ever looming STAAR test (the form of high stakes standardized testing in Texas).  Our oldest never has problems with tests, never worries about them or stresses out.  He is actually pretty good on test and thankfully, I've never had to worry.  Our daughter is a different story.  She is in 4th grade and just started taking these types of tests last year.  She is a kid with anxiety so you might as well tell her that the school will burn down if she doesn't do well on the test, because that is what she is feeling anyway.  We had a rough weekend and I wasn't sure where all the mood swings and panic was coming from until this morning.  She completely melted down as soon as she made her way into the kitchen.  B and I have been trying to make up our mind about this issue for weeks and last week just decided to have her take the test because she didn't seem bothered by it.  I guess she was hiding all of the anxiety, which is usual for her, because she let it all explode today.  We will be keeping her home the remainder of the week, starting tomorrow.  My rights a parent don't go very far in the public school system, yet my only right is to either send her to school....or not.  We will be exercising this right. Done. Relief washes over me.

Yesterday was G's first Forms and Sparring Competition for Tae Kwon Do.  He did such an amazing job! He enjoyed every bit of it too, smiling away and laughing while sparring.  He won 1st in his division for Forms and also 1st in his division for Sparring.  We were so proud of him....and he was proud of himself.  This is a great way for him to learn self control and discipline and also boost his confidence.  His teacher kept his 1st place trophy so that they could have his name engraved on it but he was really worried about leaving without it yesterday.  It was a lot of sitting, a lot of waiting, a lot of kids running every which way and sitting next to people we didn't know....but it was all so worth it to watch him enjoy himself in a sport.

This is when he found out he won 1st!!

One more post for the A to Z Challenge!