MomTime TV

And to think I almost missed it!  Taking care of all the dates and details for all the kids is just plain overwhelming at times.  The note came in the mail and the mail piled up.  Yesterday I looked at it and was so busy, I thought I’d wait til the next day to go through it all.  When one of the kids added the new days mail to the top of the old, I changed my mind.  And that’s when I found in that pile the invitation to be at my daughter’s school the next day to surprise her.

Today my 7th grade Samantha was one of six 7th graders at her school to be awarded “Student of the Month”.  The Middle School she goes to makes a big celebration of it and rightfully so.  All you ever hear about in the news are the bad news kids who know nothing and do nothing but the wrong thing.  It takes a monumental accomplishment to ever get a good news story about a kid doing something right.  So that’s why the school takes the time to reward kids who work hard.

They make it a surprise so the kids don’t know until their name is called during morning announcements.  Then they get out of class for a few minutes to go to the cafeteria where their parents are already waiting for them.  They then get to introduce themselves and their parents.  The boy who came in with Samantha and then sat down with her was in her class and his parents weren’t there.  He humorously introduced himself, acknowledged that his parents weren’t there and then announced that Samantha’s parents could be his parents for right now.  So we did what parents do,  we took pictures of Avery from every angle.  I took the pictures and Jim took video from his phone.  When Samantha got up, Jim’s phone froze during the video recording, but he did get most of it.

This was when the principal read what each child’s set of teachers wrote about them and why they earned that honor.  Samantha is our 3rd child in middle school and our 3rd to get presented with this award.  It amazes me that with each one, the teachers captured so well what is special about each child.  The comments have been so individual to each of our children, that even though they’ve received the award for having the same qualities, the reasons mentioned are totally different for each.  My favorite comment on Samantha started with “impeccable character”.  What more can you ask from a 7th grader?  Or anybody?

Thank you teachers for recognizing what is special and different and what stands out about my child!  And thank you for taking the time to carefully define why they are in that group, rather than just stamping it good and going on.  It seems so often in life we skip the hard work and rely on what’s easy.  I appreciate that year after year and month after month, there are teachers who not only put the effort into knowing their kids, but putting it so accurately in writing.

It’s a celebration of a few minutes with a little food from the cafeteria and some fanfare, but it’s got to make each child feel good about themselves and know that what they’re doing at school is the right thing. 

Samantha definitely deserved her moment, she’s an awesome girl in so many ways.  Her older brother and sister who had gotten that award years before her were excited for her and explained how worried she was about not getting “Student of the Month” like they both had.  So now the pressure’s on for the next two as they come through.

Her father and I, of course, would love Samantha just as much if she had gone through middle school without that award.  But we’re glad she got it and knows how special she is to somebody else!  And that her goodness can be shared!

Keep up the good work!  You never know when somebody will notice and when it will make a difference for them!

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