BRAG

It might seem like I brag quite a bit about my kids on this blog.

That might be because I brag quite a bit about my kids on this blog.

 BUT. One reason for that is they are young adults and can read. If I posted about the times they made me....um....a little irritable...well they could read it and that would make them a little irritable.

 DARN my husband and myself for pushing that whole literacy thing.

 And DARN that we didn't have blogs when they were toddlers and I could REALLY vent. *sigh*

Having said all that; I'm going to brag about my daughter right this very minute.

Yes. Yes I am. Because I own this blog and I can.

 So. Here is the story. Kayla has quite a diverse group of kids in her class. One of the things I've been very thankful for in our school is that my kids have been allowed to interact with kids who are not just like them. This includes kids who might have behavioral or physical setbacks. I believe our kids have learned compassion, patience and tolerance by being around those who society might deem less than perfect. I believe my kids have learned, even outside the walls of our home, to simply look at their classmates and love them the best they can.

 One of these boys, in Kayla's class, "K", is a young man who has been with this class since kindergarten. I do not want to assign a "label" to him or diagnose him because, frankly, I don't know what struggles he may or may not have. I do know that he struggles with social situations. And I do know that he has received his fair share of teasing over the years.

I also know that most of the girls in the class have taken it upon themselves to be his advocates, which is unfortunate for those who tease K because, REALLY, one does not want to test a teenage girl's loyalty. It has been my experience that once a teenage girl has set her loyalty on someone or something, it is best for the rest of us to just STEP BACK. So can you imagine if a whole pack...I mean....group....of them was in protective mode?

Make no mistake, sometimes K grates on Kayla's nerves too - but more in the sense of a pesty little brother.

 A few weeks ago, the kids were signing up for Grand March at our school. (*Grand March - an event in which those attending prom are introduced to the parents and families, on the stage, under a spotlight, so that we may all ooh and ahh over their fine attire and clap and clap and clap over how pretty they look. Grand March takes place before prom; and afterward the parents are sent home so that we do not embarrass the kids further. And so that we may start the paperwork to declare bankruptcy.)

 It was discovered that K had signed up for Grand March and he did not have a date. But, evidently, there was some teasing that he would be on that stage alone and some might have suggested that K just forego Grand March instead of standing in the spotlight alone. So my tender hearted girl marched herself into the classroom of the junior class sponsor and signed her name next to K's name so that he'd have a friend on stage with him, under the spotlight with hundreds of parents oohing and ahhing over him from the audience. She told me "Mom, nobody should be alone on that stage if they don't want to be. Plus, he's been our classmate for 13 years; he deserves it. What's the big deal?"

 I told her that I was so proud of her for being named to prom court but that those actions shined brighter than any crown she might or might not have placed on her freshly coiffed head.

 So at Grand March, Kayla was introduced with her brother, the far away Marine who flew home (with his amazingly sweet girlfriend) just to walk across the stage with her. Then she was introduced with K who seemed very glad to have a buddy on stage with him. Then she circled back around and came BACK on stage to stand with the court. I had visions of her tap dancing in on her third entrance, carrying a sign that said "ME AGAIN!!"

 Or perhaps out-of-towners might have thought we had identical triplets in our little school. She told me later that as they were preparing to walk on stage, she told K to smile and he gave a little grin and then, in her usual slapstick manner, said "No...bigger. Like this," giving a GINORMOUS smile that made me giggle.

That ends my boastful post and also explains why, even though my daughter did not receive the crown that night, she is most definitely the queen of my heart.