Terrific Kids

The day before Thanksgiving, when I picked up the kids from daycare, the sitter pointed out that Joanna had a sticker on her. Joanna showed me her "terrific kid" sticker and the sitter said she had a certificate in her bookbag. Sure enough, Joanna was selected a "terrific kid" by her teacher for "working hard in school." Of course, I made a big deal about it and congratulated her. When the excitement died down, I told all of the kids that I expected them to work hard in school and they wouldn't always get a reward like that for it, but sometimes they might. On the way home, though, Marcie said she had also gotten a terrific kids award. I asked her where her sticker was and she said it had fallen off but the principal had put the sticker on her and given her a certificate, too. I didn't see the certificate in her bookbag, so I told her that I remembered that she had gotten the award last year, but probably was just a bit jealous of Joanna this year. Marcie kept insisting that she was telling the truth and cried and cried about it.

On Sunday evening after the kids had gone to bed, I was getting the bookbags ready for school the next morning, and guess what I found pushed down in the bottom of Marcie's bookbag? You guessed it ... her terrific kids award. I felt terrible! She won it for being a good helper. I apologized to her the next morning and told her how proud of her I was.

The award is sponsored by the Kiwanis club and evidently teachers nominate some of their kids. It is given out monthly. A Kiwanis member and the principal signs each certificate and the principal presents it to the kids in class. Wonder if my boys will get terrific kids awards this month since last month was the girls' month? I don't know but they are terrific kids in my book (well, most days, anyway)!