Being Six Years Old...

...is not that easy.

You're not really a big kid but no longer all that little...you're asked to do a lot more by yourself but you miss Mommy's attentions; whether or not you can zip your jacket or tie your shoelaces, just having her there helping you all the time, you miss that...you're out on the big playground at school, with the 9 and 10-year-olds, but you have no idea how to negotiate all that play space...if a kid starts picking on you, how do you cope?  If the boys' bathroom is dirty and intimidating, and the classroom toilets are way too small (this is the case in my son's classroom), when do you go to the bathroom?

In kindergarten there was a lot of coloring and drawing; now it's all about spelling, math, writing long sentences with capitals and punctuation.  There's a lot of sitting around while the teacher explains things.  You're expected to do reports!  Long reports that need to be researched.

It's just not that easy.

Yesterday I volunteered in the classroom again, reading a book about how to handle teasing--the book was Simon's Hook and I think the majority of the kids understood the central message, "Don't take the bait"; if a kid is teasing you, employ various tactics like ignoring, making a joke, changing the subject, or walking away rather than getting angry and shouting at them.  Seeing all the kids eagerly participate in the somewhat feeble activity we'd brought for them (a "fishing pole" I'd made out of my cat's feather toy and a garden stake, with a cardboard "fish" at the end and a teasing message attached to it; they had to read the message and think of a good response), I was reminded of what a beautiful age it really is, six going on seven years old...so much is happening, and they are so vulnerable, yet they are (most of them) so eager for adventure, excitement, everything.  Being a six-year-old is one of the hardest jobs in the world and one of the most rewarding.  Being a mom or a teacher of a six-year-old, ditto.