I had to dash over to the Academic Awards....

During each of the past ten years I've worked at the middle school, at least one of my sons has been a student at the high school next door. The last one is now a senior.

The administrators and teachers I've worked with tend to have high-achieving teenagers, and every year in March several of them dash over to the high school for the yearly academic awards. I have never been invited. Until last week.

None of my three darling boys have ever been driven to to be the best that they could be academically. Don't ask me why, I certainly gave them a good example. I believe I received at least one award every year in high school, from Outstanding Home Ec Student to Outstanding Typing and Shorthand Student. And of course, National Honor Society, 4.0, valedictorian....yes, me. Admittedly, the standards weren't all that strict back then. An A in subjects like typing and choir counted just as much as an A in calculus, and I confess I took a lot of typing and choir, and very little calculus. Okay, no calculus whatsoever. But still, I did my best with the gifts I was given! (And now someone will accuse me of bragging again!)

But somehow I ended up with boys whose attitude was, "Why should I waste time studying for a test when I know I'll get a B without studying?" Yes, Eric actually said that and lived by it. The first year I worked at the school, my freshman son burst into the office after school to proudly and loudly announce that he no longer had an F in Oceanography, he had raised his grade to a D! I was so proud!

But finally...last week I received an invitation to the West Albany High School Academic Awards. Since I was acquainted with the secretary who sent them out, I immediately called her and asked if there had been a mistake. I've seen my kid's report cards! She assured me he was getting an award in a subject area and he would be getting notification about it.

So last week he came over after school and showed me the invitation stating that he was receiving the award for Achievement in Computer Education. Of course, that made perfect sense! Was he jumping for joy like I was? No, in fact he said, "I'm not going, I don't want to stand up in front of everybody and get a certificate." Fortunately the boy still obeys his mama.

I was planning to dash next door tomorrow morning to attend the awards program, but this morning at 8:30 I got a call from the high school and the person mentioned the awards were today. What?! I checked my invitation and yes indeed, today was the day. I called Nick, who doesn't have a morning class, and he was still in bed! He had forgotten! He groaned that he would never make it by 9:00 and I informed him that he most certainly would! And so he did. Can you just imagine the bitter irony if I had missed this exciting, once-in-a-lifetime event! Sadly, his father missed it, as he and Zeek the dog were out on their morning walk!

So now I belong to the group of parents who had to dash over to the high school to the academic awards. I enjoyed the privilege of hearing a teacher tell everyone about my talented son's skills and accomplishments and predict a bright future ahead of him. (So what if he was sitting in the wrong spot due to oversleeping. The counselor directed him to sit in an empty chair where he fit alphabetically in the section of 4.0 students. So he was the only one to stay sitting when they all rose to line up for their awards! Pretty funny, actually!)

Lest you are thinking that I'm a very shallow parent, I hasten to assure you I certainly love all three of my boys, even the two who never made it to the revered academic awards! I'm so thankful they are all healthy, smart, talented, loving young men. But rest assured, I will celebrate each and every time they receive any recognition for using the abilities God has blessed them with!