The Good and the Not-So-Good

I'm so proud of my daughter today. Every month, her school has a featured character trait that they learn about (integrity, responsibility, etc.), and then at the end of the month, each teacher chooses 3 students who exemplifies the trait. The first character for the school year, and for this past month, was Respect. My daughter was one of three students from her class recognized at an assembly for showing respect. Granted, all the students will receive awards by the end of the school year, but it means a great deal that she was one of the first. Her friend told her,"I'm glad it was you."

On the flip side, I am at a complete loss over my son. Since that first day in kindergarten, he has been behaving really well. So well that I've stopped asking his teacher anxiously at pick-up time if everything was okay. That's what I get. Because he got busted twice today. The first time, he was reprimanded by the aide to quit his potty talk (butt this, poopoo that) during snacktime. He responded by insulting her and speaking to her rudely, probably calling her stupid or something. The second time he got busted was when this boy said something to upset him (he doesn't even remember the kid's name), and my son just slapped the other boy on the face.

I didn't even know where to begin, so I left it for the husband to deal with when he got home. Of course he was clueless like me. All of a sudden I'm dreading his parent-teacher conference next week, which ironically follows his sister's one.

Note: I originally titled this post "The Good and the Bad" but the hubby changed it because all the parenting books have ingrained it into us never to label a child as bad, only to call their actions bad. I was willing to forego this rule for the sake of a catchy title but apparently I've been overruled. Whatever, it just doesn't have the same ring.