The artist at 7
September 6, 2007
Today, Oz starts 2nd grade. The parental anxiety about the new school year, new teacher, new classmates, and all that is dropping each year, but that isn’t to say it’s gone.
We don’t worry about Oz’s “academic” performance at all — his reading and math skills are clearly beyond grade level already, and his social studies knowledge is getting a little out of hand. But we worry about the social world of the little animals, and recognize that often it’s only the teacher that stands between them and a pig’s head on a stick.
Having mostly had success raising him to so far be a pretty kind and fair-minded kid, we worry that kindness and fair-mindedness are not the most important traits for surviving in the munchkin blackboard jungle.
Happy first day of school, pal.
(Picture: Oz’s self-portrait from this summer’s art camp, oil pastel on paper.)
