Surprise

It has been a long time since I was surprised by a report card.

That is ENTIRELY because the oldest child of this household is predictable. She is so predictable that I haven't looked at her report card since ... I don't remember. Maybe 4th grade? I don't need to. I know exactly what her report card says. Plus, because she is who she is, the kid logs into the grading system and reads me every detail for every class and how she got there. She almost got a low 'A' in one class because she accidentally skipped a question on a quiz, but the teacher let her fix it and another teacher gave everyone extra credit opportunities and she talked yet another teacher into raising her grade for some reason or other and ... and ... and. Lots of details are provided.

Also, that kid really does negotiate grades with teachers, and she does so successfully. I've not decided whether to be proud or mortified by the practice.

ANYWAY. That brings us to the other kid. She can't tell me what she did ten minutes ago, so she's certainly nowhere near reporting anything that has to do with grades to me. The odds of Mila even remembering that she took a test are zilch. She "forgets" to do her homework nearly daily. Every single morning she is newly surprised that she needs to get her backpack ready for school. Is she supposed to go to the bus stop? She can't remember.

My point is that the kid lives in the moment. 100%. She doesn't consider the future and she certainly doesn't dwell on the past. Now is where the party is happening.

Thus, I logged into the grading system and perused her report card today.

I wasn't surprised that she's doing just fine in every class. That is to be expected. I was surprised to see one particular comment.

"Mila always comes to class fully prepared."

HUH?

WHAT?

WHO?

There's been some sort of mistake.