My son Mac is coming home for his first visit since leaving for boarding school in just another week and a half! I know I'm excited, but also a little anxious, and suspect he may be as well.
Friends and neighbors, Katrina, Norman and Ellis, came with me to visit him at Recognition Weekend, last week, and it was clear to all of us that he is very happy at school and that cadet life suits him. But now that the plebe period is over, it's time for him to dig in to the academic part of his new school. I fear, this may turn out to be the difficult part for him. He is such a bright kid but has such difficulty focusing his attention on schoolwork and disciplining himself to do what needs to be done.
I need to remind myself before he comes home (and all the rest of the time, too, for that matter) that one of the big reasons for sending him to Valley Forge was for me to disengage somewhat from the role of disciplinarian and enforcer. While it's hard for me not to jump in when I see him headed off in the wrong direction, in the long run it will be much better for our relationship and for him if I can let go, and trust the school to do its job. The conversation I had today with Mac's math teacher, Cpt. Ford, helped in that regard. He and the other teachers in the freshman team seem to have a pretty good grip on Mac's abilities and weaknesses as a student and they seem genuinely invested in helping him live up to his potential. I gather that Mac sassed Cpt. Ford in class today and he's going to get a fairly stiff punishment. Like his mom, Mac has always, regrettably, been an experiential learner. It's never enough to say "Fire burns", we have to feel the heat.
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