"too much help"

so the first grader brings home an assignment to choose a nursery rhyme, and make a diorama of it for a speaking grade. they only need to learn one verse, as in "humpty dumpty sat on a wall," so maximum speaking time, in my estimation, will be 5.5 seconds.

this task is handed over to daddy, as he is head of the art department. as well as all things math, science, and history. his department broadens daily while mine shrinks. i do writing assignments, book reports, journaling, etc. mine may be small, but my fourth grader was the ONLY child to get a perfect score on his writing TAKS test. so there.

my friend melissa is throwing her diorama together the night before it is due. or, rather, her child is doing it. ours has been under construction for days. i remind my husband that this will be merely a visual prop, and only for about 5 seconds. no matter. a little more gets done each night as time allows.

now take a look at this and tell me if there is any part of it that looks like a 7-year-old helped:




no. right? definitely not. it's a battle i no longer fight. the "perfect art projects" fight. i throw in the towel on that one.

so the grade sheet comes home. he looked at the audience. he spoke at just the right pace. his volume was a little low (wow. come spend a few minutes in my home, lady). he had good posture. he did not hesitate or read from notes. he spoke in a clear and interesting way. (god, they are really digging holes here where there is no dirt.) (it's one sentence, for god's sake.)

but at the bottom was a note, with a smiley face -- because it is first grade, after all. "too much help."

oh, really? you think?