Thursday, May 28, 2009

Daisy -- Awards, etc.

The other day after school, Daisy came running full speed down the sidewalk to our waiting car. She was holding a certificate of some sort, wearing a medal, and smiling as if she were about to burst having to hold in her news clear til she made it to me.

She'd gotten an award along with several other students for "Scholarship" in front of the whole first grade. She told me how when they started to read the names she had crossed her fingers and thought, "Please say my name. Please say my name," and right then they did.

I had to give Abe a bit of a scolding look. He had arrived at the car a few moments later and was mumbling something about how it was no big deal. He'd gotten one in front of the 2nd grade for academics or scholarlyness or some such as well. But he has received several awards already this year and I didn't want him downplaying Daisy's when she was clearly so excited about it.

I wished I had been there when she received the award. Daisy has this smile that is half shy but filled with joy and pride when she gets recognized for something in front of others. It alternates between pursing itself nervously over her teeth and then breaking back into a tremendous grin, and her eyes are lit up all the while. I don't know exactly what it is about that smile, but I knew it would have been on her face when she was handed this award in front of everybody. I've seen it multiple times and every time it causes some emotion to swell in me that makes me feel like crying.

And . . . speaking of Daisy. Here is a picture of a chore chart I made them do today. I don't have a set method or chart for making my kids work. Some things they do every day (like empty the dishwasher), some days I make them lists to check off, most often it is just, "We can go to the store when the puzzles are all cleaned up," or "You can watch your show when the laundry is put away." Today I happened to make a little list of stuff they had to do. They each had to check off their initial next to the job as it was finished. This just makes me laugh because it is so very typical of who would and wouldn't be eagerly scratching off their initials.

5 comments:

Perla said...

i love daisy. sometimes i think that she and grace are so alike. but with this chore thing, addie would definitely be the one with out the checks

Mugsy said...

O am so in love with my little Daisy. I feel so bad because sometimes it is just so easy for me to give Goldie all my attention and I just love sweet quiet Daise. O tell her she is so loved by her aunt Megan

Lover of Sweets said...

Cute little daisy.
What in the world is "5 minute baseboards"? What, do you make your kids get down on their hands and knees and scrub your baseboards for you? Wish I would have thought of it!

Nancy said...

P-- Yah, cool, huh. One day I was thinking of the stuff I NEVER do -- like dust blinds or clean baseboards, etc. and I thought, "Huh, I'm sure they'll do a crummy job and miss a million spots, but if I just give them a wet wipe and put the timer on for 5 minutes, it might be better than nothing!" But I mostly forget to make them do it. Still, good idea of me.

Krista said...

I can't believe I missed this one! That award was so cute! I need a chore chart for my 18 year old.

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