Play?!

In an effort to keep Caden as caught up as possible, we asked all of his teachers to compile the work he would miss.  I was thinking about him doing it during the break, but he surprised me by taking it with him to the hospital.  He was actually working on Spanish for a while, but everything stopped the minute they placed that cursed NG Tube. 

In all honesty, there was plenty of time to encourage him to do the work over the break, but with the news of it becoming more aggressive, I felt urgent to play and relax instead.  I also started to allow him to justify that he'll have as many days to make up the work as he was absent.  Then add on the two Snow Days that the district had while we were in Seattle- meaning he could do two less assignments that had been given- and I was justifying pretty much everything under the sun.  That's right, I encouraged my son to procrastinate pretty much every day for a month!

Before starting again this past Wednesday, Caden sat down to start in on a few assignments.  He ended up getting more work done than I thought possible in the time he worked, but he's always been pretty good at Math.  (It's also work that is a review, since he did attend this same Math class last year before he quit in January because of his cancer- remember he was held back)  I freely admit that I felt a twinge of regret and guilt when I realized (the night before) that he would have normal homework due (usually takes him a couple hours each night), along with the missing assignments that he hadn't finished, along with the new 2-hour driving class that will monopolize his T, W, TH 6:00-8:00pm for the next few weeks.  And then I think back on the fun times we had as a family and that guilt and regret vanish in a nanosecond.

He's been really good at bearing down and doing what needs to be done.  Come on, this is Caden we're talking about here-- do we really expect anything different?  However, there are a few Spanish assignments that need to be done, despite his absence from the class where he'd hear the words from his teacher, and learn them in person; now he needs to really research with both the Internet and Spanish Dictionary.  He's laid out a road map for himself, making sure he finishes them by the allotted time given.  He came home yesterday from his early release, grabbed a snack, and buckled down for a night of homework.

Again, we gave him an excuse last night to take a break-- we asked him to sit down and learn how to play our favorite game: Cities and Knights of Catan.  It was a lot of fun.  This morning found him down to business, but once again, someone in the family is having none of his determined hard work and self-imposed exile shut away in his room.  This family member was feeling neglected and jealous of the time he's spent on other endeavors.  He could not refuse the begging and pleading to come play.

     I'm not sure who is more content, Caden or Mira.

I care about education, I really do, but I won't have a problem asking for a cancer perk if the deadline passes for him to be able to turn in these assignments.  I never do this, but times are changing.  I am changing.  I'll sacrifice my pride if it means more time for memory making.  Knowing Caden, he won't let the time pass without completing them anyway, but it seems that the world his family may make it a little harder by encouraging him to play instead.  And you know what?  I feel no shame!