Transparency Tuesday: Comparing

Now that Jeremiah is in mainstream school... he's getting homework, and things to practice at home so I've taken it upon myself to get extra aids to support his learning. Slowly but surely with repetition and patience he is getting there and doing really well.

I had a parents evening for both of the boys  couple of weeks back.. and both of their teachers do not have any concerns about them.

Doing practices with Matthew (he's in nursery), there are certain areas that he is stronger in than others. Speaking to his teacher, they are currently working on mark making with numbers/number recognition. 

H's taking a little bit of time to recognize numbers (or so I thought).

Jeremiah caught onto numbers so quickly-- it took minimal effort on my part.. but with Matthew I found myself getting frustrated and angry at him because he needs to 'get it'.

So much so I found myself comparing him to his brother... forgetting he is a completely different child.. and the way he takes in information will be different from his brother.

There was one day where I got so frustrated with him I almost shouted at him but I caught myself and stopped. 

I shouldn't be getting angry at him-- I have to keep on doing what I'm doing and make it fun. And also, I realized even the way I was doing it with him.. he didn't seem interested. Jeremiah is by the book-- he can take his chair, sit down and I can go through everything boom boom boom and he's getting it.

Whereas Matthew... I have to use a different approach and we are getting there..

Why do we compare..? We have a particular expectation.. and when it's not met.. we get disappointed, right?

I really put it in my mind I would not compare my children.. but here I am... comparing them. But I've gained another lesson.