A little while ago, I wrote a post about everyone needing a hero and pondered on who M and G would adopt as their heroes as they got older.  This week I’m adding to my choice of heroes and am including my children at the top of my list.

In their own ways, they have been brilliant over the last few weeks and I am so proud of them both.  This post is a tribute to them and their awesomeness and will act as a good reminder to me on those occasions when they’re pushing my patience to its very limits.

Marvellous M

This week I’ve had M’s school report and Stagecoach report to enjoy.  I was equally thrilled with both.  I expected the Stagecoach report to be glowing, after all, as his drama teacher stated, “M was born to perform on the stage”, but I was a little more apprehensive about his school report.  I know his behaviour is impeccable there, but academically this has been a tough year.  The last 5 weeks, since we got the dyspraxia/dyslexia diagnosis, have seen a real turn-around in his attitude to his school-work.  All the aids we’ve put into place have seen him make huge strides forward and he’s much more confident in how well he can do.

To my delight, we also finally got to see the short charity film that M took part in about 6 weeks ago.  It focussed on Domestic violence and is hard-hitting though not overly graphic.  He performed well and enjoyed every moment of the filming.

He’s also understood that G has had to focus on her own school-work (see more details below) and has given her space to just sit down and get on with it.  I was immensely proud of his attitude on the last night of working on it, when he had to entertain himself for the best part of 2 hours as G and I reviewed, finalised and polished her final effort.  I heard not a word of complaint from him and he regularly checked in with me to make sure I knew where he was and what he was up to.

However, it’s not just his reports that have made him my hero this week.  It has been his approach and stoicism to taking his medicine.  As I’ve mentioned several times, his recent flare-up has been hard and has really knocked his faith that things would improve.  The revolution of Grandma’s jam, as mentioned in a previous post, has helped enormously when it comes to his new medicine.

To put it simply, he’s taking it.  Despite feeling poorly, hating the taste and with a depleted appetite, M is taking all his medicines every day without argument, or at least with the minimum of fuss, because he knows he needs to and there is still a small spark of hope that this will help hiding somewhere inside.

Gorgeous G

I’ve also had the pleasure of G’s music, school and Stagecoach reports to read.  Each report commented on her hard work, positive attitude and determination to give 100% to every new task set.  Despite her nerves, she has performed solos on her clarinet at school and in the end of term performance for Stagecoach and really gave her all.  She listens well, takes instructions and applies them to the task in hand.  She doesn’t have M’s academic struggles to cope with, but she does have to deal with me having to give attention to M at home when they’re doing their homework and she’s worked hard to complete as much of hers on her own as she can.

Mr.G, G’s teacher this year, praised her for being “always cheerful, courteous, co-operative and helpful…very reliable and always willing to help with a smile”; whilst her Head teacher commented that it was an “impressive report” and her continued efforts would see her having a “very successful Year 5.”

G has been working incredibly hard over the last 5 weeks on a project for school, where she had to choose her own topic and complete independent study and research for it.  She decided to write about Canada and has spent her time reading reference books, researching on the internet and talking not only to Mike, but her cousins and grandparents too.  The piece of work she has produced is amazing and she is rightly proud of it.  She finished it by preparing a powerpoint presentation and photo montage to show in class, which was a learning experience for us both as it’s not a piece of software I’ve particularly used before.

Most importantly, despite her disagreements with M and the frequent sibling wars we have in the house, G has also been aware of M’s struggles with his new medicine and has encouraged and cheered him on every step of the way. She has given him massive support and has managed to coax him to take “just one more mouthful” when he’s found it especially difficult and my powers of persuasion are failing.  M is very lucky to have a big sister who will hold his hand and let him cuddle her teddy bear when times are rough.

Sometimes my children are a challenge and I find myself rolling my eyes as I pull them apart for what feels like the twentieth time that day.  Sometimes I want to disappear from their world and just go back to being “me” – not head chef, not referee, not problem-solver extraordinaire.  Today, I’m happy and proud to be Mummy and to shout out loud about all their achievements.

There’s nothing like team-work!