I can go from a sweet, docile Mom to a cluster of frustration in about two seconds at the mere mention of a school project. I am not joking, it is like a light switch. One that I wish I could permanetly disconnect. I am trying. With this project I could imagine a therapist standing over my shoulder trying to calm me and walk me through the stages as if I had been through a traumatic event, or how I imagine one would from tv! It didnt work, my blood pressure still escalated, my voice got deeper and more snappy…and then Jonathen said it. “Mom you are a control freak when It comes to my projects”. It cut deep at first and then I thought, a clue, a clue!! You see, as soon as one of my kids gets a project I imagine all the amazing possibilities (the artist), then I have this insane desire to make a rubric, a grading instrument, to make sure we check all the boxes (the teacher). Then there is the part of me that gets frustrated that the kids haven’t been taught how to break a project down in school, so it requires insane amounts of intervention on my part, when I really feel that I want the project to be my kids work, not mine (the mom). You stir all these emotions into a pot and give me a deadline and it is like I am in a pressure cooker! They always turn out, always. So there has to be a way to get from the excitement of getting the project to the turning out part without all the drama! No, no, I am really not asking for another project to figure this all out. My goodness. WE just finished this morning! Did you know that John Cabot had a son named Seabastian, that was also an explorer? What, you didnt know John Cabot existed…oh have I got a suitcase made from cardboard, medical tape, shoe polish, and tea FOR YOU!!!
