8 : A Little Boy's Dream - Something Borrowed

The news every Mum wants to hear...

 

Normally Master 7 tells me how fantastic his dreams are, he dreams of a world filled with dragons, dinosaurs and most recently Ben 10 aliens.  He has enviable dreams travelling through port holes of time, finding himself in wonderful lands where dinosaurs are his friends and dragons are real.  To even tap into his imagination for just a few moments would be an amazing experience.

 

However, when Master 7 told me that he dreamt about starting school, my heart sank just a little.  I was already wracked with guilt after we decided to change his schools last year, in only his second year at school. It was a big adjustment for him and the guilt we felt as his parents was palpable.

 

He told me that his dream was about starting at his old school.  I wondered where this was heading, expecting tales of how he missed his old friends.  Instead he went on to describe, screwing up his nose as he did, that he didn't like his old school.  He hated wearing the stiff buttoned up shirt and tie which was too tight, the hard shoes that he couldn't run properly in and the jumper that made him itchy.  Most of all he remembered how he always had to work so much and so hard all the time.  He described his dream as having to do so much school work all day and all night that he fell asleep on his desk.  Wow, I hadn't expected that. 

 

He went on to tell me how much he likes his new school, where he can wear comfortable clothes and he can do his work without falling asleep.  He told me that the dream reminded him how happy he was at his new school.  Maybe that extremely stressful move, forcing him to leave behind a group of good friends, was worth it after all.  We couldn't keep our son at a school where near enough wasn't good enough.  Expecting little children to reach and maintain such high standards or simply repeat the year if you couldn't, was not what we wanted for our clever little boy.  Moving him to a public school where he enjoys a mixed level class and is taught to the level of his ability, never told that he isn't doing well, only praised, helped and encouraged to do his best.  Where his drawings of magical creatures are hung up for all the children to admire instead of being told to get back to work.  Sometimes children excel in ways that aren't appreciated in a private school setting.  Not every school is right for every child. 

 

Having my child reassure me that he is happy, after just five school terms at his new school, makes all the indecision and heartache worth while.  I have never lived my life with regrets, I can't see the point.  However, this particular decision has come the closest yet to me admitting to feeling some regret.  I hope his next dream is about his new school and how much fun he has with his ever growing group of friends.  Even better I hope he dreams of his beautiful land full of magical creatures that are his friends, before he grows up too much and forgets.