Reel Education!

School is in full swing now and Kaleb’s schedule is packed from eight to five.  It makes for long days but he probably does less schoolwork than most kids, since he doesn’t really have homework.  When he’s done, he’s done.

His motivation for cash continues to propel him forward.  He’s getting up early on his own, running around the house doing his chores and watching the clock like a hawk to be sure he starts school on time.  I’m glad his schoolwork is a little light this week because other opportunities have come up that he wouldn’t want to miss.

This morning our friend, Dal, invited the boys to go fishing out on the Skagit River.  He’s been reading my blog and seeing what pathetic fishermen they are and he thought he might be able to improve their lot.  He was right.  Kaleb called me at eight all excited that he’d caught his first salmon.  He insisted I come down to the river and see the action, so I drove a few miles down the road and watched what I could through my telephoto lens.  Kaleb kept calling me on the cell phone to tell me he got another one and another one and after just a few hours they came home with seven salmon!  Kory spent the rest of the day cleaning and filleting them, and Kaleb couldn’t have been more proud.  Of course, anything to get out of doing schoolwork for a few hours was good in his book, but we were happy to stock the freezer full of so many future dinners.  Thanks, Dal!  (Dal made Kory promise to never reveal his secret fishing hole, so mums the word.  I had to crop the photo to not reveal their location.)

It was hard to get Kaleb settled down into the routine of school after such an exciting morning.  He just wanted to tell me fish stories and go into great detail about the big one that got away.  My dad would have been proud.

Kaleb had his first “grammar lab” today with Hillcreek School, so I drove him into town so he could sit in on the class and start to learn the rules of grammar.  He’s the youngest one in the class, but he did better on the initial exam than the older kids sitting around him.  I’m looking forward to big improvements for him this year as I know there’s a great writer inside him just waiting to come out.

Yesterday, Kaleb was a bit down on himself and not happy with any of his schoolwork.  He just sat and cried when he was trying to draw an image for his art class with Kory.  Both Kory and I asked what his problem was and he gave the blanket statement, “I can’t do anything right.”  After several minutes of probing, it seems I was the cause of all his angst.  He’s heard me describe our friend, John Foreman, as someone who “speaks life into kids,” and Kaleb used that terminology and said, basically, I do the opposite. 

“You’re not speaking life into me,” he complained.  When I asked what he meant, he said that I have been telling everyone that English is not his best subject and he’s a little behind in that area.  He’s apparently devastated by the thought that he’s not ahead of all the kids his age in every subject.  I apologized profusely and told him he was right, that I shouldn’t be saying stuff like that and I would never mention it again because he is a pretty good writer (mostly when he can dictate, however.)  He had a good cry and he forgave me and we were both glad we cleared the air.  He then went about his schoolwork with extra fervor and all was right in his world.  It was a good reminder for me to just emphasis the positive and creatively word things that are less than perfect.  Lesson learned. 

So he cranked through his schoolwork for the  rest of Monday, then ran out the door to go to gym class when the day was done.  We all went together because we had a scout meeting to attend afterwards, so our evening was fairly full.  Kaleb has joined the Big Lake Scout troop and with some of his buddies in the mix, he’s pumped about being back in Scouts.  Me, too.

After school today Kaleb begged me to take him to the LaConner Library board meeting because they were discussing whether the library should buy another piece of property in town in order to build a bigger library.  Kaleb definitely had his opinion on that and I was pretty proud of him, putting in his two cents worth.  He carried on quite the argument that included points others had said before him.   When he was done, the audience applauded.  He was the only kid there and most in attendance were very senior citizens.  He just couldn’t keep quiet on the subject of needing a bigger library in our town.  I’m surprised he didn’t offer to head up the fund raising drive to pay for it.

Our company from Norway drove the Cascade Loop yesterday, so they were gone all day.  Today they borrowed our car again and took off for a week in Canada, driving from Whistler to Banff and back.  I guess we won’t see them until late next week sometime.  What fun to be footloose and fancyfree.

Kory and I both had committee meetings tonight at church, as I’ve now joined the Missions committee and Kory is still the head of the Properties committee, so Kaleb was home in glorious bliss, all alone, watching cartoons.  Normally I wouldn’t worry about him being alone, but yesterday when Kory and Kaleb went for a jog around the cemetery next door, some guy came running out of the woods and jumped in his truck and sped off – NAKED!  Definitely weird and kinda creepy. 

Kory’s theory is that the guy wanted to literally dance naked on someone’s grave, and he maybe ran off into the woods when he saw Kaleb coming, but then didn’t realize Kory was lagging behind so he got caught.  Fortunately, Kaleb didn’t see the guy, but I’m not sure I buy into Kory’s take on the whole thing.  This world is a crazy place.