A Sacred Space

I had a little emotional setback yesterday with gentle feedback from my trainer regarding fine-tuning what is correct in terms of what I can ask him on the three boards. I have such a hard time "making mistakes" when I try so hard to do what's right. But guess what--this is all part of the learning process and the important thing is that Sam and I are doing TOTALLY FABULOUS and by going out of my comfort zone like this, I am finally giving my son a voice and a LIFE. Go us!

I've also had some anxiety about the message I emailed to his school teacher since I haven't heard back from her yet. But guess what--maybe her email address has changed, maybe she is on vacation, maybe she even thinks I'm making the whole thing up. So what. The truth is, I had a clear prompting to have Sam share a message with her, he really spelled it, and it was sweet and heartfelt. I had the courage to follow a prompting from God. I took a risk so that I could give a special gift to a dear person. I did my part. My side of the street is clean.

Today I was so aware of what an incredibly sacred experience it is to be alone in my home with my sixteen-year-old son and in an unrushed way get to know him letter by letter. Today I asked him a few more difficult prior-knowledge questions and discovered that his initiation and accuracy are best when he is being challenged! He really wants to show me what he knows! We did today's session at noon and he had not had lunch yet because he had a late breakfast so I was hoping the apple pie would tide him over. He was definitely a little hungry and agitated but he still did great! He also has gotten SO much better at moving his finger to the right if he doesn't immediately land on the correct letter! I am also proud of myself for embracing the idea that when he goes off and sits on the couch, he's actually asking for more input through my pulling on his arms. Smart guy!!

Speaking of smart, here is what he spelled today in part 2 of the WSL Surf Ranch lesson:

Spell: CYNICAL

(pk) Synonym for cynical that starts with D: DOUBTFUL

How many times was Shawn White an olympic champ? THREE

Spell: SNOWBOARDING

Spell: ARTIFICIAL

(pk) Word that begins with P meaning someone who does something never done before: PIONEER

How old was Kelly Slater when he came up with the surf ranch idea? FOURTEEN

(pk) It just goes to show that young people can do amazing things.

Spell the name of the Mormon prophet who was fourteen when he had his first vision. JOSEPH SMITH

Spell: AERIAL

(pk) Spell the homonym for aerial, in the story of The Little Mermaid: ARIEL [he was SO confident with this one!]

Spell: SIMULATIONS

(pk) What is a decade? TEN YEARS

How many football fields long is the surf ranch? SEVEN    

How many different types of waves can be generated? FIFTY

Spell: SUSTAINABLE

(pk) What's a word that begins with R that is similar to sustainable: RENEWABLE [so confident!]

Spell: VELOCITY

[And here is where I got really gutsy! Remembering high school physics, I wondered if he knew that velocity is not just about speed. So......]

(pk) Velocity has to do with two things, ________ and ________: SPEED and DIRECTION [sooooooo confident!]

What's the name of the professor quoted just now: AARON JAMES

Spell maneuver, a French word from the lesson: MANEUVER

Spell this other French word from the lesson, repertoire: REPERTOIRE

(pk) What country is Tokyo in? JAPAN

Doctor Kupper is coming over later today--spell his name for me, please? KUPPER