the score

Last night, as soon as I walked into my first parent-teacher conference, I sat down at my kid's school desk. I thought that was where I was supposed to sit. The teacher just looked down and laughed.

I had prepared a list of questions and lines of attack, thinking back to my journalist days. Only instead of asking a rock singer, 'Did you really show that former TV star your penis?', I was getting ready to ask, 'Is it okay if I read Dr. Suess to her at night while she's learning proper German by day?'

And unlike some of the interviews I used to do when I was a cub reporter, there was no deep mystery to unravel, no puzzle to solve. Deanie's teacher told me she's a very good student, very articulate and verbal, good social skills etc. Teacher said Adinah tells lots of stories, and sometimes on Mondays, she reports very specific bits, the smallest details of her weekend. (Cool.) She said Adinah is kind.

I was especially proud of that last thing.

The teacher gave me another report card for Deanie, her second, and as in the first, she had graded my girl with a scale of Happy Faces and Stars. Stars are Super, Happy Faces are Good/Normal. Adinah got mostly Stars, and about 5 Happy Faces. The teacher said I should look the report over and talk about it with Anette, then show it to Adinah.

This morning Adinah was beside herself. "Can I see it now, can I see it now, can I see it now?"