awards day

i, as a parent, have always hated awards day...i'm not a "soccer mom", i don't like crowds, and i don't socialize with parents. that's just not the way i roll. so going up to the school for awards day is just not my cup of tea. but i always go to support the kids and i love to see the way pete's face lights up when she sees me sitting in the bleachers.

my daughter just finished 4th grade. so this was my 5th awards ceremony. last year was the first time i had ever noticed a kid get left out. this teacher had called up all of her kids to give them some sort of award, except for this one little boy - and he was left sitting in his chair, all by himself. and it broke my heart.

pete has gone to the same school since first grade, and i have seen the same six or seven kids get their names called over and over and over again...but most teachers will make up silly little awards to make sure that each kid gets something, and that no kid gets left out. every other year, my daughter has gotten the art award. she's very creative, very artistic. they don't have an art class, but the teachers have always acknowledged that ability in her. this year? notsomuch. in fact, that little boy from last year was my daughter.

here's the thing. i'm very aware of my daughter's strengths and flaws. i'm not one of those moms who thinks their kid is perfect and should have had her name called ten times. academically, she's fairly average. she's decent. she's a good speller, she reads like a champ, she loves science but doesn't always get the best grades, she's fair at history, and, like her dad, she sucks {royally} at math.

but what she is extraordinary at is being a kid. at being a friend. you wanna go hang out on the playground? pete's your girl. wanna play nintendo ds and watch movies? call my kid. want somebody to fix you some muffin tops and glass of milk and sit on the front porch and watch the world go by? she's a champ at that. she's got the biggest heart and the best smile and the greatest personality. how could that go unrecognized? so what if your kid is good at math and can maintain a 100 in spelling? my kid wants to be your kid's friend even though your kid is a nerd :) and i love her more than anything. so the fact that she sat there through that whole ceremony with a smile on her face and congratulated all of those other kids ... i was really surprised that, like the other teachers, hers didn't just make something up. so i took her home early. and her teacher wouldn't even look me in the eye. you would think that, somewhere along the line, something would have happened - her teacher would be upset with me or something. nope...nothing like that. so that just makes the mystery even bigger. i just don't get it. she's just a kid!

oh, and by the way - you should probably rethink that outfit. i wouldn't even wear that to the mall. in 1994.