The Not So Good Parents!

The day ended yesterday with a “Rudy” walk. Our dear friends were away for a few days and we were asked to walk Rudy while they were away. It was good to see Rudy and my daughter went with me on the walk. No there wouldn’t be any “death runs” for Rudy last night and I often think about that run where poor Rudy had had enough and just sat down not wanting to go any further. He is such a good dog and our walk was fun. My daughter has asked for a dog and has even gone as far as writing the reasons why she wants a dog. In those reasons was one item missing which was cleaning up after the dog but this was covered by her little brother who volunteered for the “clean up”. We have asked our landlords if we could have a dog and much like the Obama’s we will wait after the New Year when everything settles. Our settling is a bit different and we really need to have my wife working before we can make a commitment to another member of the family.

The morning came very quickly and yes, I had a day off from exercising because we had a school function this morning. Our daughter had an assembly to showcase the students who made the honor roll. Yes, our daughter did make the honor roll and she made the “gold” edition of the honor roll which means she earned all A’s. There are just about 200 students in the 5th grade and I believe only 20 earned all A’s. At first glance I thought this was too many because I can only relate to my experience in the fifth grade where one or two people earned straight A’s but that was 33 years ago!! Times have certainly changed and I am certainly proud of our daughter.

My daughter kept asking me all week if I would be attending the assembly this morning and I made my schedule work in order to be at the assembly. I wouldn’t miss it for the world since it is these moments I missed over a two year period. I am blessed with an incredible family and I want to embrace all the moments. I was so happy to in attendance as the honors were handed out. The assembly started with silver honors and went to gold honors. My daughter was beaming as she was given her certificate and these are the moments I know she cherishes. I was there with camera in hand to record the event and took several photos of my smiling daughter.

This part of the assembly was over and the next parts were individual honors for each class. My wife and I were not notified that our daughter would be receiving one of these awards. This part of the assembly was just like the assembly we attended for my son last month when he received “Student of the Month”. We were notified and kept that a secret from him. Today my wife and I thought our daughter would only be receiving her honor roll certificate so when that part of the assembly ended we decided to leave. I did have mixed emotions especially knowing how my daughter’s teacher is exactly reliable about dispensing information but my wife who had volunteered in my daughter’s class just yesterday stated that my daughter’s teacher didn’t mention anything about a “Student of the Month” award.

We did depart and I made my way to the office where I had a few meetings. There was also the company photo with Santa which is an annual event. This would be my first year in the annual event and it was very well done complete with Santa along with the women wearing red shirts and the men wearing black shirts. The photo came out very nicely even though it was like herding cats getting the photo taken. As the photo ended I had a very nice lunch with a co-worker who also happens to be a very good friend in GA. The lunch was wonderful and the conversations exceptional. I learn so much from this person and today was no exception.

I made my way home and my cell phone rang; it was my daughter informing me that I was a bad parent since she did receive the “Student of the Month” certificate AFTER we departed. I felt so bad that we weren’t there and really had a feeling she would garner this award for academic achievement. My daughter did take in stride and thankfully has a great playful personality. She realizes she now has something to hold over “Mom” and “Dad” heads. She did say “you owe me,” and I am sure she will collect over the coming days. I did feel bad but we made our decision to leave and there is nothing we can do to turn the clock back. I am so proud of my daughter and now she has two certificates hanging on the refrigerator; “Honor Roll with Gold Honors” and “Student of the Month for Academic Achievement”. Yes, I continue to be blessed in every way possible.