Perfection

Poor little B has been dealing with a frustrating case of perfectionism. I have no idea where she get's it from. I mean, she isn't like her mama at all... (ahem *cough*) no not at all *eye roll*. One of the reasons (or excuses) I originally made as to why I would never homeschool was because I was a perfectionist and I didn't want to bring that at all into the classroom. I didn't want the girls to pick up on my bad habits and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to calmly and patiently deal with their mistakes.

You know what though? I think putting voice to that was more than half the battle. Since I am conscious of what I DON'T want to do it makes it so much easier to be intentional about watching myself and my attitude and making sure my head stays in the right place. I start each day with prayer that God will help me in the specific areas I worry about and I find that throughout our school day my mind is where it needs to be and I can be careful about each response I have.

Brin doesn't like to do something unless she can do it right. We have been working on writing, and before school, other than writing our their names (in all caps) or little notes from time to time it's something brand new for the girls. Poor Brin get's upset so quickly and breaks down in tears the minute she feels one of her letters didn't turn out perfectly. It breaks my heart, but makes me so glad that I'm the one who gets to help her through this. I keep reassuring her that it doesn't have to be perfect, and we are just learning and it's okay to try and make mistakes. We won't learn unless we do our best and keep practicing. She just couldn't shake it though so we decided that for now it would be less frustrating for her if she traces letters. She feels more confident doing that, and I'm more than okay with it.



The last thing I want to do is make school a frustrating experience, especially before they are even in Kindergarten. I love that I have the flexibility to help her through her frustrations and change things up so that she's doing what's best for her. I want to make sure I'm continually remembering to use our schedule as a guide, but that it's perfectly okay to deviate from that if it's what the girls or I need. Today after a bit of frustration I flipped around our schedule, and cut an extra writing activity and we started our reading time a bit early and read an extra book. They ended the day happy and hopefully we can work to give Brin the confidence she needs to make mistakes and know it's more than okay.