So many things

So many things have transpired since my last post. I took my son down to the local arts center to show some of his art work to the curators of a traveling exhibit called the People's Biennial. I took him down there for one reason...  to get experience talking to adults. I figured that this would be a great opportunity because it would be less daunting for him to talk about his artwork. Another reason I took him was because I wanted him to get early experience with rejection.  I know when I was his age if someone didn't "pick me" I would have assumed that I wasn't meant to be an artist. My self esteem was THAT fragile. I wanted to teach my boy that it's a numbers game..   the more times you show your stuff the greater the chances of getting picked and if you don't get picked it doesn't mean anything. It just means that his art and their exhibit weren't a good fit for each other.

Well...  many many people in the city and surrounding cities showed up..   Guess who got picked? My boy.

So my boy's art work as well as animations can be seen in a travelling exhibit called, "The People's Biennial"... it is now at the Portland Museum of Contemporary Art and may be coming to a city near you. Here is a picture the curator e-mailed me from the opening night. It is of someone taking a picture of my boy's art.  Pretty cool!

My son is also attending alternative school and pulling straight A's. You have no idea what this means..  This school has allowed him to build his self-esteem back up.  He's a changed boy. It is so nice to see him feel good about himself and walk with a little bit of a spring in his step.  The teachers at the school are amazing. I went to conferences and you could just tell that each of them (ok all except for two) loved their jobs and loved the kids.  That is priceless.

I am pretty proud of the improvement of my parenting skills as well. I am much more relaxed this year and convicted about the choices I make. Something inside of me wishes I could go back to the beginning and parent all over again with the insight that I now have. That's not the way it works though...  you can't go back, you can only move forward. I had my son at age 20, so basically a child raising a child. I am glad he was able to pull through despite my inexperience.

Cheers!