Growing Pains

My mom is in the middle of a massive purging and yesterday she dropped off a box of stuff she thought would be of particular interest to me. This little box of treasures included my class photos from kindergarten and 4th grade, prom pictures and old love letters.

But it’s my elementary school report cards that are of particular interest to Miss Olivia. She poured over each of them, one by one, trying to decode the grading system of Evans Elementary in the early 1970s. She counted the rows of Os (for outstanding!) I achieved in fourth grade. It’s nice to have tangible proof to illustrate that I understand what’s she’s going through as a 4th grader.

Olivia’s always been a great student and her most recent report card featured its own equivalent to my string of Os, but 4th grade has forced my girl to step up her game and she’s learning to apply herself in new ways…. spending more time on homework, and sometimes even having homework over the weekends. In fact, tomorrow Olivia is participating in her school’s National Geographic Challenge. She spent the latter part of this evening boning up facts like the country closest to the Tropic of Cancer and naming two cities in the Artic Circle.

I can tell she’s a little nervous, and to tell you the truth, I’m not sure how she’ll do tomorrow; she thinks she probably could have spent a bit more time preparing. She’s probably right, but I’m also proud she’s giving it a shot.