Leader of the Week

Yesterday, The Rock Star woke up with crusty crud all over his face. He was sniffing and sneezing and moaning and groaning about not feeling well. This does not bode well for his future wife. He was warm from being wrapped up in his blankets all night but, still, when I took his temperature, it registered normal.

"I'M SO SICK! I CAN'T POSSIBLY GO TO SCHOOL. I THINK I ACTUALLY MIGHT BE DYING. I ACHE ALL OVER AND MY LEGS HAVE STOPPED WORKING." I promise that I am only slightly exaggerating his reaction to a little bit of snot. (Dear Garrett's future wife, I'm sorry.)

"TAKE MY FEVER AGAIN. YOU DIDN'T PUT THE THERMOMETER IN FAR ENOUGH." Because he calls his temperature his fever. "ALSO, I AM TELLING YOU THAT I AM SICK. SO YOU SHOULD NOT RELY ON A SILLY TOOL. I KNOW BETTER THAN THAT THING." Oh yes. He really said that last part. No hyperbole there.

So, since he was a healthy 98.3 and his throat was not red and his eyes were not pink and gunky and he was not bleeding or vomiting, I gave him some ibuprofen (because he's convinced that it is a miracle drug) and sent him on his way. I knew he didn't feel well. He had a runny nose and there were circles under his eyes. But we're trying to teach him the fine art of powering through. It's what we do.

Not long after I got home, I received an email from his teacher. She keeps the parents updated once a week and this appeared in the email...

"Garrett is chosen as Leader of the Week for 1st grade! He is an example of Habit #2 Begin with the End in Mind. He is an important part of our classroom. He contributes with his focus and active listening skills. He is excited about learning. We're lucky to have such a leader in our class.

Leader of the Week is kind of like student of the month. Each week, one first grader is picked (out of all the first grade classes). So, throughout the course of the year, his teacher will have the opportunity to choose approximately five of her students for this award. Garrett got to get a new book from the office and take a picture with the leaders selected from all the other grades. Sometime soon he gets to have McDonald's with the principal. His name was announced over the intercom to all the classes.

When he came out at the end of the day, he was grinning from ear to ear. "Congratulations, Buddy!" I shouted. His smile dropped.

"She already told you?" (Epic Mom fail. Always wait and see if they want to give you the good news first. I tried to regroup by acting insanely excited and building him WAY up. He got over it rather quickly.)

"So, Garrett, aren't you glad I made you go to school today?"

"Oh man. MOM! I AM SO GLAD YOU MADE ME GO TO SCHOOL. I WOULD HAVE BEEN SUPER SAD IF I HADN'T BEEN THERE! IT WAS THE BEST DAY! WHAT IF I HAD STAYED HOME? THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN AWFUL."

This conclusively proves that mama knows best and will henceforth be used as evidence in the continuing argument that she is almost always right.