Proud Mama & Papa

Friday was a parent-teacher conference day for Jennifer & me as we met with Kaitlyn's 3rd grade teacher. I wasn't too nervous about what we'd hear about her but I was a little curious as to how she'd do for her first "letter grade" report card. In times past, it was either E (excellent), V (very good), S (satisfactory) or N (needs help). This year, it's the traditional A, B, C, D & F scale. Kaitlyn is a very smart, bright, intelligent girl but every once in a while, she shows she's her mother's daughter and gets caught talking.

To say she's a social creature is an understatement. Kaitlyn's never met a stranger and can VERY quickly make friends and conversation with the majority of the kids she meets. She's an extremely confident, independent girl and I think some of these bold characters will help her achieve many of her goals in life.

Her teacher reiterated this to us during the conference. She said that Kaitlyn's scores in a nationwide assessment called the Iowa Tests were very high, scoring in the 98th percentile nationwide. That means, in a nutshell, she did better than 98% of all the kids who took the tests. Outstanding!!

"However" her teacher said "she didn't do as well in the 'listening' section."

"Listening" I asked. "Is that like 'listening & comprehension'?"

"Yes, but it's even more than that" the teacher said. "In fact, some of those questions neither you nor I could get so I think it's a bad way to measure kids' abilities."

"Well, if listening and comprehending is the key issue, that comes from me" I admitted. "Daddy had a hard time following along in school when I was a kid."

"I see" said the teacher. "Well, Kaitlyn is an excellent student and her grades will show this on her grade card. However, she does like to talk."

Without missing a beat, I said "...and that would be due to her mother's genes."

Jennifer slunk down in her chair, head lowered and said softly "yes, I like to talk and that would be my fault."

As the teacher went on to explain how Kaitlyn's grades were recorded (she only missed getting straight A's by 5 points!!) I looked at Jennifer and coyly pointed my finger at her and mouthed the words "da hah!!"

That is our code word for each other when we mock them in triumph and victory. I do it to her as often as I can because, to put it frankly, it's NOT all that often I can claim victory. She, on the other hand, has gotten so good at giving me the "da hah!" that she's got the kids joining in with her. In fact, all three of them beat me home from lunch today and as I raised the garage door to pull the car in, all three of them stood there, fingers outstretched in my direction and yelling at the top of their lungs "DA HAH!! You are the loser, Daddy!!"

See, it's all about the encouragement in our family. Good thing I'm so thick skinned.

Anyway, the conference concluded with the prediction that Kaitlyn will be a straight A student next quarter from the teacher and from us. I am so thrilled to see her excelling in her work and studies, enjoying the third grade and really making the effort to do well at school. She absolutely loves her teacher this year, quite the contrary to last year's teacher, which, in my opinion, makes all the difference. Kate's attitude, energy and enthusiasm for school this year is light years above where it was last year and I think her teacher has a lot to do with it.

But we are so proud of Kaitlyn and her first actual report card!! Her Grandpa Fred would've been so proud of her as well, praising her for achieving, as he put it so often to Jennifer and me, "the almighty A!"

Way to go, Sweetie!! We love you and are so proud of you!! Keep up the great work!!