ONE Perfect Student

Spring Break always starts with a BANG:  Parent/Teacher Conferences.

I've got to confess that High School Teacher Conferences tend to slip my mind.  Most likely because of the popular teenage trend to stealthily cover up the fact that they're even going on.  This year, with a little help from a certain someone,  I actually remembered and made a plan to get down to the school and visit with Mitchell's teachers.  And, since I was making the effort to go, I decided to bring my tight-lipped teen along, just in case the ride got bumpy.  Thankfully it was a blissful day largely filled with compliments and congratulations for the boy. (Large exhale, big sigh of relief.)

But not without a few interesting (and blog-able) notes:

First, from his English Teacher:

I'm excited to report that she gave ME an A+.  When we showed up she turned to Mitchell and said, "First, your mother's turn."  It turns out she's read the blog.  And she gave me an A+ !!   If only Mr. Sharp and Mr. McBain were still teaching at the school, I would have drug her over to their desks and had her give my two favorite english teachers a full report on my improved english scores and then begged them to expunge my high school records.  But unfortunately they're both retired.  drat!  (Although perhaps this is a good thing as Mr. McBain may have double checked my poor blog for its syntax: namely my erroneous use of comas, semi colons, and my overzealous exploitation of parentheses.)  With that swirling in my mind, I continued a very fun and  lighthearted conversation with his english teacher.  After a bit Mitchell got impatient and had to finally interrupt and say, "aren't we here to talk about me??"  (hush child!  I'm finally getting good grades.)

Mitchell was happy to redirect the conversation AWAY from our family's life exposing blog and back towards himself, that is, until it suddenly took an unexpected detour.  His english teacher turned her attention from the blog to the boy and generally told me he was an overall great student.  Then she leaned in toward him in a sort of covert way and in hushed tones she said, "Mitchell, can you think of any reason there might be a concern for your grades in this class?"

Mitchell face looks puzzled, he furrowed his brows, and gave a look of total bewilderment.  You could see his mind scanning his english class routines and wondering how things could be so concerning when everything seemed to be going so well.  Then Mitchell's face slowly smooths out and he raises his brows and says,  

"Ohhhhhhhhh.  The Chair?"

She gives him a nod.  "Yes the chair."

This is when I discovered that Mitchell has fallen asleep a few times in the cozy chair he has chosen to sit in to read during class.  His teacher tries to suppress a grin long enough to stay composed and suggest he read something a little more lively than "The World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics" during class time in an effort to stay awake.  To which I heartily agree that said book does NOT scream "gripping page turner".

Then the report from his science teacher: 
It just so happens he goes to this class with his cousin Bryce.  She reported to me that Mitchell is pretty quick and smart when it comes to science (no surprise there) but that he has a little bit of an issue documenting his brilliance on paper and actually handing in such evidence (...no surprise here either).  Paperwork is not this kid's forte.  His cousin Bryce, on the other hand, is a little more challenged by the concept of science (and quite frankly, who the heck isn't??) and that often forces him to write everything down, work it out on paper, and turn it in.  Then she looked up and said,

"If I could combine Mitchell's brain with Bryce's paperwork,

I'd have the perfect student."

So I take that as a compliment...even if it's only HALF of one.  I am thrilled that between my sister-in-law and I, we've got  

ONE PERFECT BOY!  

So with that, my plan is to duct tape these boys together, brain and brawn, and get them successfully through high school.

POST NOTE:  Around "press time", I discovered Mitchell just found an exciting new book to read in class that he's certain will solve his sleepy problems.  His new book?  "The Physics of Superheroes".  It has a cartoon-looking cover that deceptively looks like an attention-grabber.  But when I cracked it open, it was the same droll stuff as before; do we really need to know that that gravity is 15 times greater on Krypton than on Earth?  And that when the Flash runs, he's surrounded by a pocket of air that enables him to breathe?  Seriously kid, you're scaring me.  Where's your cousin?  I'm getting the duct tape back out!