The joys of children

I actually feel sorry for a lot of people. I know to many of them it's a choice, others it's just lost opportunites. Trying to live through nephews, cousins or friend's children, well, it's just not the same. No it's not the whole carrying the jumping beans for 9 mos part, the spitup, diapers and such. It's these moments.....

Got a call on Wednesday, of all days too, that the Ms would need to stay after school to finish a science project that was of course due on Monday. You have to be around each afternoon as I pick her up from my parents house and ask-what did you do today? Homework? Extra credit? etc. You get the drift. So surprise surprise when I got this call. Now not only has she not turned in the assignment but she lost the entire packet and had to start over. Yeap, just the perfect end to the day, or was it?

Kennel Club meeting with some heated topics on the agenda later that night, so call Alec,tell him to pick up his sister and leftovers for dinner.

Oh no, not the end yet. Seems the sump pump pipes decided to fall apart about the time they got home. David walks into the BOD meeting with PVC glue-yeah, got the whole story.

So back to children. Slave labor--they were mopping, temp fixing, bucket birgading the pit, until about 7ish. We got home about 10ish. Going through the mail. Uh Oh, report card time.

Just had an inkling about that report card, considering her afterschool stint tonight. Wow, not what I had anticipated. All A's, A+'s and a few B's. Still not sure how she got a C- in music, but heck, neither she nor David can carry a tune. Funny, comments are all the same: quality work but not consistent; late assignments(duh) and needs work on penmanship.

ITBS scores are in too. For those out of state, they are the yearly Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Oh how I dreaded those. Anyway, if the report card wasn't enough, she's testing at high school levels! Remember, she's a 6th grader. Some of her areas are at college level. Which leads me to the next WOW--she's also been invited to participate in a summer college prep program at one of the local colleges. Double WOW!

Rus, Sherilyn, Kim and I were chatting today and I think Rus hit it on the head--she's bored, so the usual class work isn't exciting or worth putting the effort into. Bingo. Going to talk to teachers about it. And yes, you all can give her a good ribbing about her late work and handwriting---maybe there's a future Dr in there?

So the joys of children? That unexpected thrill when you least expect it. The ability to brag and being able to give them a squeeze each night, peck on the top of the head and a swat on the butt-just for good measure. Honestly, why would I want to miss any of those moments? Four legged kids are great, but just not the same. Ask one of them how they managed to remember the plot to all FOUR, yes, FOUR books she's reading and yet, forget about a science project. I just sit and shake my head.....

Later gators....
C