Must be doing something right

Another chapter in our Meredith story...I have heard from Meredith's teacher that she is very sweet, always willing to help, a good friend to everyone in the class and is very considerate. She does struggle with getting her work done on time, but Mrs. Gregg has been working with her on that and Meredith is improving greatly in that area as well. Yesterday I got to see Meredith's journal, and I felt like we are clearly doing something right, and perhaps our struggles with her are not as bad to her as they seem to me. She has drawn several pictures of me in her journal, wearing a tiara and a pretty dress, which is sweet. (And totally accurate of course. What mother doesn't clean house in her tiara?) There was one assignment where the kids had to complete the sentance "My family likes to___" and Meredith's picture (see below) said "My family likes to love."

I am happy to hear that she knows she is loved. Sometimes I feel like all I do is battle the children all day long about getting them to eat, get dressed, be conscious of their surroundings, be nice, be gentle, be kind etc., so I feel validated seeing how she does know that we love her and we are very proud of her.

Meredith is also starting to think about others in a much more noticible way. Yesterday it was pouring and we drove by someone holding a sign by the highway. She asked a ton of questions about homeless people, how we can help them, food/shelters etc. and was really feeling sorry for the people who don't have as many blessings as we do. She also asked yesterday if she could bring extra money to school today so that 2 of her friends could dress up even though their parents can't send money in. (They do a dress up day 2 Fridays a month to raise money for various charities and everyone brings a dollar.) I don't know if there are actually 2 kids who truly need the help, but I jumped on it! I am so proud of her for being aware of others, and I feel like some of my hard work is finally paying off! I have worked with her for years on being aware of others and being empathetic, so it's nice to hear it come from her now.