Teen1 - update

Well Teen1 is still working and quite unbelievably, he loves the farm, the smell, the animals...all of it. He never complains about getting up before the sun or working so many hours.

Today, he is home because school started for him. We are still waiting for K12 to load his assignments. We have the class list... but no assignments. Oh well. No books or computers yet either. But we will make due...

Anyway, not all parents would be happy their child selected farming as a future trade. But we are.... you see, we still remember back when he was 5 and moved into our home. We were told his IQ was 73. Why would I post this for the world to see, you might ask.... well because it isn't of course. Within days of having the is tiny little boy move in, we could tell he was not a slow learner or border line challenged. He pondered things. He was slow moving, but once he learned something, he knew it.

We played school daily. We started with the alphabet, then numbers, the words, then math... and in every case, he could and did learn. By the end of the year, he was doing the same work as the other K kids. So we fought the schools and moved him to first grade... where we were told we were expecting too much and he would flounder. He made straight A's... the entire year. Same thing for second grade.

His fifth grade IQ test showed he was a 95. This is low normal, but definitely normal... YEAH Teen1.

His seventh grade IQ test showed he was 110. This is approaching above average. Super Yeah Teen1.

His last IQ test showed he was 115.

If I had to give an opinion, I would say the 110 was pretty accurate.

Back to Kindergarten. When we were told about two little boys who might become our sons, we were told what school they were attending. Well cable tv showed the first days of the local schools. We watched, wondering which of the little boys was going to be our son. The county refused to let us see pictures yet. Well my IQ was high enough to bypass that little obstacle. We knew his name, that he was dark blond and very tiny for his age. We watched the whole video of the kids getting off the bus... one of the very last kids... the teacher called him by name and asked him to come with her. She didn't name any other child in the whole video... but she named our son and we got to see him for the very first time. He looked so lost, so tiny, so alone. Some kids cried, some laughed, some played. Our son just stood there, looking lost. Then they showed video of each K classroom. Once again, our son looked lost. Just a sad little imp, all alone, and sooooo cute. We watched that video over and over and over... wondering how long the county would take before we could bring our little lost boy home.

Fast forward to the end of K, after many hours of play school at home, after he caught up with all the other kids.... and we are driving home from school. My niece M, who practically lived with us, and was also in Kindergarten, was in the car with us. She tells us a story about paper airplanes. The whole Kindergarten class (all six classes combined) had a field day where they made paper airplanes and raced them. Our son won every race. M. was in awe of him and said, "How did you know how to make your paper airplanes so good? How did you get so smart?".

Our son pondered her question, as he pondered most things, then replied, "M. I wasn't always smart. I use to be very stupid. But one night, I was dreaming, and a voice told me, 'You are not stupid so stop being stupid', and when I woke up, I was smart".

Now our sons "waking up" was leaving foster care, where he was labeled. It was also waking up from a society that labeled him low functioning, due to an IQ test designed for children who had normal infancy's and early childhood's, not for kids who were severely neglected. And a part of me, hopes his waking up was also influenced, just a little, by having parents who loved him regardless of being low functioning or above average.

Now he tells me he wants to be an organic dairy farmer. He has the ability to be whatever he wants and this is his choice. I doubt he will ever be rich if he sticks with farming alone... it will be tough even getting started, heaven knows we do not have half a million to buy him even a small farm. But somehow, I think he will make it.

Look at the odds he has overcome already.

And who cares if he is rich. My son smiles on that farm. Watching him bend down to pet the barn cats, and take time to pet the dogs before doing his chores touches me greatly.

If only all of us could be so happy as we go to work..... and we don't have to smell cow manure... yet we still don't smile like he does at work.

It is a full circle for our family. My father worked very hard to get us away from the farming he grew up with. All of his children chose other fields and all are very successful at what they do. Now his grandson wants to go back to farming. Strange, but my Dad could not be happier. He talks farming with my son and smiles the whole time.

Learning life lessons from my kids.... been there... doing that.