A New Year

Last year was not a good year for Jordan. Moving to a new town is always difficult, and she felt the brunt of it, I'm afraid. Academics are difficult for her and so she struggled in that area. She usually makes friends pretty easily, but the friend she did find moved away partway through the year and many of the other kids had already established friendships so by March it was pretty miserable - her not wanting to go to school and me trying to convince her that she should go (and in the end forcing her when she didn't buy my arguments). At the beginning of this year she was convinced it was going to be more of the same, but thankfully it has not been. At first she was teased a bit about her clothing. We don't spend a lot of money on clothes and, besides that, she isn't the most style-conscious child. We did a bit of shopping and discussing clothing options and so that part has gotten better. Additionally, she has a new "best friend" and so her life is a lot happier. Add to that that she's back in swimming lessons (being involved in sports is important for more than just the exercise) and 4th grade is looking a lot better. Her academic progress is even looking up. Her grades thus far are significantly better than last years and we'll hope they stay that way. A happy and proud Jordan is much better than a disappointed or depressed Jordan any day of the week.