Married In Ohio

We haven’t said much about how the kids are doing recently so I though I would post an update. I didn’t think it would be much different this year but I was wrong. It is more difficult having two kids in high school. It’s probably just their personalities, but many of the lessons we learned with The Boy don’t seem to apply to The Girl.

The winter sports season has started so we spent all day Saturday at The Boy’s wrestling meet. I know that wresting is not a sport for everyone but I have really enjoyed watching his evolution. Through hard work and dedication, he has made himself the best wrestler on the team in the lower weight classes. I still get down on the floor and roll around with him from time to time but I am not nearly as good of a training partner as I once was. It seems the pupil has become the master. Now, when I watch his matches I mostly yell encouragement. He notices his opponents’ weaknesses and hits moves before I can say anything. So now I just cheer and take pictures. And he’s on the honor roll for the ninth straight quarter.

The Girl’s grades, on the other hand, are right on the borderline between me being happy and unhappy. She has a B average overall but could certainly be doing better in a couple of subjects. She takes her school work more seriously than she did in eighth grade but still is not as studious as we would like. I’m not quite sure how to motivate her. She doesn’t have the drive of her brother. She seems more interested in keeping us (relatively) happy than doing it for herself. I know she is only a freshman in high school, and graduation seems a long time away but preparing for college is important, even now. I didn’t think it was possible but somehow The Girl has become even more sociable. I want for her to enjoy her high school years but. I also want for her to prepare herself to be successful later in life. And, unfortunately, she has a different balancing point than California Girl and me.