From One Generation to the Next

When reading teacher comments on a report card it is important to be aware of every message the teacher is trying to send. Most teachers are polite in their approach and many underlying messages may not be uncovered at first glance. As the years went by, I began to realize there was a common statement being made in my report cards. The comments usually went something like this..."Jill is a bright girl and has many friends. Her talkative nature is appreciated... most of the time." Or one that went something like this..."Jill has many friends. She seems to do well socially, however, may have difficulty not socializing during class." And this is by far the most straightforward comment..."If Jill would just apply the same amount of effort to her school work as she does her socializing...". Clearly this teacher did not recognize my pure talent (which I realize would be a much more powerful statement had I turned out to be famous or something). The above examples, in case you are somewhat unsure, are teacher's code for "Tell you daughter to zip it!".

Anyway, all of this is funny because Maddie came home her second day of school and said, "Today was great but my teacher gave me a check on the board because I was talking during class." I replied, "Maddie it is important that you pay attention and let the other kids pay attention during class." She told me that she tried but she just haaaaad to tell her friend something. "And it was just killin' me mom", she said. So I'm thinking Maddie's report card will start something like this..."Maddie is an outgoing girl who seems to like school.....and talking."