With honor

I got a call from school the other day. Uh oh, I thought. Did my girl get her phone taken away again? Or is one of the two of them faking it in the nurses office?

But no. It was a call to tell me that my girl, my oldest, would be receiving an award at the first ever middle school honors assembly. Awards would be given for GPAs 3.0 and higher and/or for a citizenship grade of 4.0.

Hmm, neither seemed to quite fit my girl. She has really been working hard, and I knew she did pretty well this semester. But honor roll? Exemplary citizenship?

This, I had to see.

I asked my girl about it. She had no idea what I was talking about.

So I told her about the call, and the subsequent email. I let her know that I planned to attend the assembly.

"What?!?!" She replied.

She assured me that there was NO reason I had to attend. She let me know that "none of the other parents will be there!"

I didn't care; either about her desire to keep me far away, or about the other parents showing up or not showing up.

She reluctantly agreed that if she got to pick out my outfit, I could go.

Fair enough.

This morning she also suggested that she do my hair.

Okay.....

Let's go!

We barely made it to school on time, but I scored a seat second in from the aisle so I could get a good look at my girl as she walked by.

As the gangly, pimpled, hormone-hopped middle schoolers shuffled into the auditorium, all slouched and self conscious, I spied my girl's friends. Her long-time girlfriend waved at me and pointed next to herself, but my girl was ducking for cover, she did NOT want to be seen by me. Perhaps if she couldn't see me,  I did not exist there in the auditorium?

I did get a reluctant acknowledgement as she went by. I think she may have even look directly at me after receiving her certificate onstage.

But after the assembly, as they were all exiting? Well she simply would NOT allow me to photograph her, or me and her, or even the damn certificate. A mom acquaintance of mine grabbed my phone and encouraged her to be a good sport.

Omg, did my girl wig! Really, it was all just so awful for her. She wanted to wriggle herself right our of her pubescent self and disappear.

No! Look away, look away!

 And this was the *best* shot.

No matter, I kept the certificate, because for some odd reason even the paper itself seemed to embarrass her.

SO, here it is, my proud mama moment, minus my girl.

Congrats, girl! You made the honor roll.

I don't think she yet realizes that this sets the precedent for all other semesters to follow. But I will not further scar her today by letting her in on this fact...