A week of extremes

From Webster's Dictionary:
ex·cep·tion·al
adj \ik-ˈsep-shnəl, -shə-nəl\


1: forming an exception : rare
2: better than average : superior
3: deviating from the norm: asa : having above or below average intelligence

I've always felt awe and admiration for parents raising more than two children at a time because there are times where I can barely manage two. I have also realized that my two children--although oftentimes mistaken for twins--probably have a wider span in aptitude than many siblings who are more than five years apart.

In this week alone, Air Boss and I have decided (after 3-days of assessments for Lolli, meeting with eight school administrators, specialists, and teachers, and much flip-flopping) to keep her in her current first grade class. Despite her assessments indicating that she is performing above the current second grade class, all involved school personnel had voiced their concerns and reservations of having her skip a grade.

Towards the latter part of this week, Air Boss and I have also been faced with whether or not to pull 'Shroom out of his classroom for some intensive intervention measures. Although we weren't entirely thrilled with the prospect of 'Shroom spending more than half of each school day in a special education setting (i.e. pulled out of his classroom), we know that he's not keeping up with his second grade peers and is falling further and further behind. Yes, we met with some of the same team who had JUST discussed options for our precocious daughter and now a mere few days later, we're discussing how we can best keep 'Shroom afloat in second grade.

We've decided just this week that Lolli will stay in first grade and 'Shroom will daily receive three hours of special ed in the learning center. Wow - it's hard to believe that they come from the same parents and hence the same gene pool.

Dare I say my children are exceptional . . . ?