Resilience

Hello Friends! We had a wonderful weekend which was made better by the fact that Nicholas came home on Friday with the news that he is "Character Kid" in his class for the month of February. This comes at the perfect time because Nicholas was feeling a little out of sorts with Luke going to Target class and him having to "stay back in regular ole class". According to Nicholas, NO WORK is done in Target--only super cool stuff that regular kids don't have the privilege of joining. Sigh--this is going to be a long rest of the year.

But anyhow, Nicholas was thrilled to get the Character Kid honor and he even got a ribbon and will get to invite someone special to eat on stage with the other Character Kids. So we started asking what his "Character Achievement" was and he was like "what do you mean, Mrs. Collier just picks someone that has been good" and tosses the ribbon at us. Curious, we read his ribbon and it states "Resilience". Ok, really? I mean, I know what it means but how do you attribute that to a 2nd grader?

Bryan was like "So, he just keeps F-ing up but never gives up so she thinks he's resilient?"

Me: "No sweetie, that's Perseverance, he's RESILIENT ".

So I look it up and this is what I got... "Resilience is defined as a dynamic process that individuals exhibit positive behavioral adaptation when they encounter significant adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or even significant sources of stress.

OK, Wow! I'm not even sure of what to make of this. Adversity? TRAUMA? TRAGEDY AND THREATS???? Holy crap, I think I need to make an appointment to meet with team of teachers, counselors and principals at school. I had no idea that he was having to deal with so much! And what about the other poor children who are NOT resilient? Are they being terrorized? Beaten? Oh the stress! See, clearly I am NOT resilient b/c I do NOT deal with stress very easily.

So needless, to say, we are now proud and worried parents. But as long as Nicholas is happy, then we are!!

PS--I have always informed the boys that they can choose whoever they want to come to "Character Kid Lunch" AS LONG AS IT'S ME!!! I get some perverse satisfaction from sitting up on the stage and waving out to all the children. Seriously, I think I need to find a hobby or a job or something that makes me feel productive. That, my friends, is a whole 'nother post! Until then...