The dreaded report card

Abby came home with her first quarter, first grade report card tonight. When I saw it, I wasn't really worried about it. Her teacher, Mrs. Pelky has told me she enjoys having Abby in class, I've seen her do her homework every night and she does it well, and, while I may be biased, she's generally a good kid. So, when I opened her report card, I wasn't surprised by the many S's she got (for Satisfactory, the highest rating) in such things like Completes Tasks on Time, Displays Adequate Attention Span, Creates or Produces Writing to Communicate with Different Audiences for a Variety of Purposes, or any of the other 40 things she got S's on. She did have one N (for Needs Improvement) for Writing Conventions--Uses Correct Grammar, Capitalization and Puctuation, but I figured that was ok at six years old. So, after looking at it, I put it on the table and didn't think more of it.

Since Dave's parents are here visiting for a few days, Abby did her homework tonight with Grandma and Grandpa--math, reading, spelling. After she was done and put it away, she saw her report card and sat down to look at it with Dave. She came in the kitchen and boasted that she got a lot of S's. Not even thinking about it I told her yup, she did, and she got one N (for Needs Improvement). She looked at me and went back to where she was sitting with Dave. After awhile, Dave came in and said Abby was upset. I asked why and he said because it was because of the ONE N on her report card. Seriously? So I went in to talk to her, and she just broke down in tears for about 20 minutes. I told her she did a great job, and she told me she knows punctuation and capitalization and she should have gotten and S. She didn't deserve an N. I asked her why exactly she was upset, and she said "I'm just disappointed in myself because I know it."

Ugh. Some people get their dad's eyes and their mom's nose. Or dad's height and mom's hair. Abby seems to have gotten Dave's need for perfection and my need to always be right. The poor girl. There's an awful lot of report cards between now and May of 2020!