O-Dawg

You know those first few days of school? The ones where there are hundreds of papers coming home to be filled out and returned immediately?  I spent several hours the first few evenings when school started trying to get everything completed and returned to the right place in a timely fashion. More than once I put Cal's name when I was filling out Owen's paperwork and signed my name where Kirt's was supposed to go, but with a little white out we got everything squared away and sent back. Except this...

(Can you read that? It says: Your child is very special. Please use this form to share any important information, special goals or medical concerns about your child.)

I suddenly came down with a case of writer's block. Owen doesn't have any medical concerns or special education needs but I felt terrible Mom guilt just leaving it blank. I spent a few days trying to figure out what I should write. Everything I came up with seemed cliche or lame. The one thing I kept wanting to tell his new teacher was that it might take a bit for him to figure out what was expected but he would do his best to make her proud. That's one of Owen's sweetest traits. Especially in school, he has always wanted to exceed his teacher's expectations and do whatever is asked of him. But it seemed so generic to actually write that when she was just getting to know all of these kids. It doesn't really stand out as the kind of information she was asking for even though she would find out soon enough that it was exactly the kind of information she was looking for.

I was waiting outside the gate at the end of the 6th day of school as Owen's class filed out to wait for their parents. The string of kids coming out of the door ended but Owen was not among them. A few seconds later I saw his teacher come out with her arm around a student and I knew something was wrong. I couldn't see that it was Owen but I knew it was him. I cut my way to the front of the crowd so I could be the first parent in the gate once the bell rang. As I finally caught a glimpse of him he had tears streaming down his cheeks and his shoulders were heaving. When his teacher saw me she looked almost as broken-hearted as Owen. She explained that the class had been unfocused all day and in the end-of-the-day-craziness they hit a new level. She turned nearly everyone's cards to yellow (her discipline system - a yellow card is a warning) and Owen was among that group.

As she was explaining what happened she tried to reiterate to Owen that it wasn't a big deal and that tomorrow he would be 'green' again and start fresh. It was of little comfort to that poor little boy who just wanted to make his teacher proud. That afternoon I realized that I didn't need to fill that paper out and send it back. She was very aware of Owen's 'important information' and he was very aware of her expectations.

























This little monkey has got an imagination and personality like nobody I've ever met. Last night I asked him to go get dessert orders for our family after Sunday dinner. He requested a tray and a towel to complete the task. With a tray balanced on his right hand and a dish towel draped over his left arm he was nothing less than a professional waiter getting the job done.

Earlier in the day he said the word 'hideous', we laughed and Grandma Peterson asked him what 'hideous' meant. Without missing a beat he responded, "My mom's shirt is HIDEOUS!" The whole family erupted in laughter agreeing with him. Nobody was a fan of the vintage BYU shirt I was sporting.

Just this morning as we were headed out the door for school he started with a little cough and looked a little out of it. We agreed to go to school since I was helping in his class for the first little bit then when I left he could come home with me. I completed my morning responsibilities and Owen and I took off for home. As we got home I plopped down on the couch to check my email. Owen shot me a disapproving look and said, "So, this is what you do all day?"

He's got a quick wit, an unparallelled imagination, a fiery temper and a sweet, forgiving heart. Now if he'd just show his momma the same respect his teacher gets we'd be in business.  I guess you can't win them all.