Let us do it for FUN now!

Hans has been taking Art lessons since he was in JK. It was interesting how it all started.

Hans has always taken time with everything.

He took his time to say his first words and while waiting, I got very concerned. Maybe we should not have given the boy the beta BlackBerry PlayBook Craigley was testing at that time!! Maybe it delayed his speech and made him passive?!

When he started JK, a few weeks in and his teacher expressed concerns that Hans is a little behind. She wanted to bring in a resource teacher to have him tested. I was beyond concerned. I have a Special Education qualification and I know what it means to bring in a resource teacher. It turned out that Hans was OK. He just had some fine motor issues. As I walked out of that meeting and was walking back home, I just started crying out of sheer relief. It was then a car stopped right beside me. It was a parent who was soon to become Hans' Art teacher!

This parent has a child a year older than Hans and they were in the same split Kindergarten class. She wondered why I was crying so. I told her the whole story and she suggested Art as a way to work on Hans’ fine motor skills. When I asked her if she would do a session for Hans, she declined as she primarily worked with older kids and adults. Hans was 4 at that time. He was too young according to her! But a couple of days later, she changed her mind and decided to take the boy on! Hans has been with her since then.

The Art teacher and I have become friends over the last few years. It is interesting that only a few people have actually seen me cry and I cry quite a bit. My mom, who at one point in time had very little patience with my crying, remarked that I could supply water to a drought ridden town with my incessant crying. Given the frequency of it all, only a remarkable few have seen this phenomenon. Those who have are my friends or people who eventually became my friends.

Recently, the most I have cried has been related to 2 events - one of which was Hans not getting into The CW. My friend H heard me cry from half way around the world that was how bad it was!!

Given that, why would I put the boy and I through The CW experience a second time?!

Primarily because the boy was so miserable at the beginning of the school year and he wanted to audition again. So, has anything changed from last time? Yes! I do not run around with Hans and spend nearly 6 hours each week with various lessons. It has been cut down to half that amount of time. It has been more about fun. In fact, Hans has lost interest in The CW in the last few weeks. But he will be auditioning again regardless. There is no way he will get in. No one has dropped out from the current cohort and Hans has not exactly done a better job academically to be considered even if there is space available. But the boy is going back in less than 2 weeks’ time to finish a commitment he made to himself. So proud of him!

Most recently, Hans confided in me that he has 10 job options that he is considering. One of the newest options is "Professional Photobomber"!! The Future is unknown and we do not know now if that ever becomes the most sought after job?! We will find out, won't we?!

Till then, have FUN kid.