Went to a parenting class on the subject of 5-8 year old boys on Saturday. Learned a lot, still haven’t made my notes. One thing in general that stays with me is understanding that during the years 1-3 the child’s world is insular, it is family, house, family, family, mommy, mommy, mommy. At four the child touches the outside world, scratching at the surface of that huge scary thing out there we all live in. From 5-8 there is a lot of expansion and testing and processing of the outside world culminating in a balanced understanding of the outside world and the home world. During this time a LOT of fear, anxiety, thoughts, testing, testing, testing takes place.

This is on top of a very poignant and meaningful conversation I had with Luke’s teacher the other day where she described Luke and being in a personal transition, going from a small boy who no longer wants to be a follower to a small boy who does not have all the tools to become a leader.

What an exhausting process it all must be? How do we ever make it?