Joshua...The Olivia Park Years

Kit by Raspberry Road Designs

My miracle boy. After 15 years of not conceiving, I was blessed with Joshua. God's gift to me for getting clean and sober and staying that way. I've tried every year to talk him into NOT growing up, but he insists he can't stop. I don't care how old he gets...he'll always be my baby.

New to the school near the end of 1st grade, in Mrs Smith's class we got to meet Mr Bananas and make a poster introducing Joshua to all his new friends. Mrs Smith made Joshua feel very welcome at his new school, even though he was only in her class for a couple of months.
Second grade proved to be quite the challenge. But Mrs Green made it easy. Having moved here from California just a few months earlier, we found that Joshua was struggling to keep up with his peers. Mrs Green built confidence in Joshua when he was feeling inadequate. She added rewards and incentives for his achievements, and even though he was still struggling, he wasn't quite so hard on himself. Making a huge difference in his attitude toward school.

Ms Herradura had "Josh" for third and fourth grades. Though he was still struggling, and even hit a bump or two with keeping up, Ms Herradura continued to build Josh's confidence in his abilities. Attitude being the difference between victory and defeat, by the end of fourth grade Josh was confident with himself. And still wears a smile over the 4 he got in spelling in her class.

Now in fifth grade, Miss Becker climbed to the top the "favorite" list. Mr Personality having totally come out of his shell, landed in a brand new teachers class, and couldn't have been happier with that circumstance. My guess is that he was 10 and having his first crush, and who better deserving than a budding young teacher with a heart of gold. Josh strived to make Miss Becker happy with everything he did, building his confidence even more. He's even a bit "cocky" now...which isn't entirely a bad thing.

It was bitter sweet to have moved near the end of the school year. But we said our "Good-Bye's" in March and we moved.

I thank all of the teachers there for building confidence, self-esteem, and self-assuredness in my shy, self-condemning, struggling child. Not only has he grown about a foot and a half, he has grown in maturity, morals, and knowledge.

WOO HOO