HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

By Sarah, 9 years old

IF THE SCHOOL DOESN'T GET ITS ACCREDITATION

If our middle school doesn't get its Middle States accreditation, it might be my fault! There is a team coming to observe all the schools in our district. Our middle school decided that they would pick some students from each grade level to go to lunch with these people. My son was one of the students that they picked. On the surface I can see why they picked him. His straight A's, his great behavior, his friendly smile. All of these are perfect reasons. Little do they know that at home he has a mother (me) who rants and raves continuously about every little problem that the schools have. Who commonly calls the principal of the elementary school an idiot. Who teaches them that every teacher has their "quirks" (also known as psychological problems) and you have to learn to work around them. These are just a few of the topics I cover in my daily dialouges entitled "problems in your school".

So my poor son feels the pressure. He's old enough to realize that he needs to apply a little BS, but maybe still young enough to get it wrong. When I found out that he was going to be the one to answer this teams questions I said, "don't take this the wrong way, but I just picture you saying something really stupid". He said "I know, I do too!" He'll try to do the right thing and say good things about the school but....somehow I just can't shake this feeling of doom! The other part of me just can't stop laughing!

I LAUGHED UNTIL I CRIED

Sarah is in her second year of playing the viola. She likes to have me listen when she practices and the other day I was doing just that. As I watched I was amazed at how far she's come in a year. Last year she struggled through wanting to quit and hating the sound the viola made. I decided to force her to stick with it even though I feel that music should be something you enjoy. At the end of last year the teacher put her into the orchestra with the older students and Sarah felt lost and many times actually WAS lost. She didn't play well enough to be able to keep up with the other kids so many times just sat there not playing. So while watching her practice this time, I pointed out how much better she was doing. Then I asked her if she found that she could keep up with the other kids this year. She replied "That's not really my specialty, I think I'd make a better soloist". She also told me that many times the teacher will yell out "WE'RE ON MEASURE NINE!". For some reason this got me laughing.....until there were tears rolling from my eyes! Sarah is only 9 years old and the whole thing sounded hysterical coming from her. What a great way to look at things. Its not that she can't keep up with the other kids, its just that she was meant to play solo!