Pride!... and maybe sometimes the apple does fall far from the tree

I think you may want to skip this post.
Skip this if you are annoyed by a mother proud of her daughter's achievements.


At the end of the school year I attended an award ceremony for all the 8th grade students.

I was anxiously awaiting the name of my daughter to be called and since we are in the last part of the alphabet it took some patience.

I clapped hard and loudly for each of the other parents' students as their names were called, so much so that my hands actually began to hurt.
But that is what you do because you are truly proud of other parents' students, you show support for your child's classmates.

Then they called my A's name...
7 awards.
Seven.


I was thrilled beyond words, for all her hard work and dedication had paid off.
She is a kid who never has to be told to do her homework.
Never has to be asked, "Do you have homework?" or "Have you started/finished your homework?"


But then they announced that there would be an additional award presented to several students.
About 220 are in the 8th grade class, and names of about 6 students were called out to receive a Presidential Academic Excellence Award.
A's name was at the end of the list- last part of the alphabet, remember.
She kept an A, 4.0 grade point average in all classes for 3 years + a rating of excelled or advanced in all state testing.

Some days you have these snippets of sheer joy that give you a little shiver that will never leave you, memories frozen in time.
That was what happened to me.
I was over the moon with pride and was rendered speechless as all the parents around me clapped to the point of their hands beginning to hurt and congratulated me on A's achievement.

As for the old "apple tree" saying...I was a hard working B, C, and sometimes an occasional A student.

As for my husband, he jokes that his grade cards have all disappeared for a good reason.

Maybe sometimes the apple does fall far from the tree.