And I think that they're bright, and sensitive, so I have no doubts whatsoever about their intelligence.

This week has been the annual parent/teacher conference week for the Vos home. Going to parent/teacher conferences has always been and still remains scary for me. As a child I worried about what the teacher would tell my parents. Now as an adult, I worry about what they will say about my children.

My teachers always said the same things about me. I was bright...gifted even. However, I talked too much. I remember my report card would be perfect with the exception of my talking grade. Yes, in Catholic school we had a grade in talking. I think it was titled something like, "Refrains from extraneous talking." I usually got an N. N meant "needs improvement." Occasionally I got an S-. The S- meant "A little better but still pretty crappy." I liked to talk a lot. I'll never forget in first grade in the beginning of the year, I sat next to this kid, Mike Kotnik. We were getting along pretty well, I thought. After a little conversation, he finally asks me my name. I was thrilled! I was making a friend! I told him and he immediatly goes up to the teacher and tells her: "Jennifer Ballard is talking too much." I got in trouble for the first time for talking too much. I learned to be more judicious about who I gave my name to from then on. I was also labled "The Talker." I guess I had alot to say. I still do.

None of my children, as of yet, have inherited my need to express themselves at inappropriate times during the school day. Their report cards/conferences were not perfect this time around. However, they were extremely satisifying for me and I am going to gush a little. Christopher's teacher talked about how enjoyable a student he is and how much he likes having him in his class. He talked about his maturity and how he always shows respect for the teacher and his peers. Calvin's teacher talked about how helpful and kind Calvin is during class. She told of a sitauation in which Calvin really shined. There is a boy in his class who is handicapped. He has an aide with him usally, but one day he was without the aide for a bit. Calvin stepped in unasked and did the things the aide usually did for the boy. He saw the need and filled it. Spencer's teacher spoke of his enthusiasm for learning and how well he listens and how he is such a good cleaner-upper. Emily's teacher gave their seal of approval on Emily by not requesting a conference with me. In middle school, no conference is a good sign.

Their cards weren't perfect; they all have stuff to work on and improve. However, their character...their behavior...the most important stuff to me is right on track and I left conferences last night and today on cloud 9. I felt like that LDS commercial from the 70s or 80s that says, "Mom, you're doing alright." I'm doing alright.