The Devious Plan

In the Mommy Olympics there are a few categories:

1. Those who exaggerate about their children's accomplishments and then brag.

"My child was talking like an adult at 12 months." ~My grandmother about my uncle.

2. Those who push their children hard and then brag about how much they can do.

"Johnny is reading above his grade level, spends 2 hours a night on homework, takes karate, soccer, and art lessons with a private teacher and then on weekends we volunteer at our church and he feeds the homeless and is on his way to solving world hunger in his spare time...." (I'm tuning this person out by now.)

3. Those who nurture their children to become the best they can and brag about areas they excell in.

"Chloe is a fantastic writer. She is already writing in paragraphs and she just started first grade." ~ Me, about my 6 year old. (Notice I snuck that in there.) :-)

And then there are those who refuse to participate in the Mommy Olympics, and those are the moms I have to wonder a bit about. I mean, you birthed a beautiful living breathing creature...it's your God-given right to brag about this little person! To those women I say "Get into the game!"

Today I will begin volunteering in my daughter's first grade classroom. I will be helping with the Advanced Reading program. This means I will be gauging how well the children are reading and understanding what they read. I do this because I love being able to see Chloe's classroom close up. I love helping her awesome teacher and I love kids. However, I also do it so I can see how well Chloe is doing and how she is measuring up to the other kids. I want to watch Chloe and figure out where she needs help and where she is strong in so I can work on those areas with her. I can also see how she behaves in class (not that she is a problem) and how she interacts with her peers. This is my "mommy detective" hard at work making sure I know my daughter well enough to nurture her through her school year. I'm looking forward to watching her shine and glow when her mommy comes in to help. She is really excited to have me come in...it's almost tear jerking to know she is so proud that I am her mommy.

Is there anything better than walking into a classroom and being "Chloe's Mommy?" This is going to be the highlight of my day today.