The dreaded "To the parent or guardian of"...

When I walked out to check the mail today, there was the typical offering of an In the Swim catalog of pool stuff we never buy, a couple of credit card offers, a bill from the eye doctor that I paid last week and a graduation announcement from someone we know.  There was also an envelope from the intermediate school addressed to "Parent or Guardian of J.A.B.".

Even though my kids are good kids and very rarely, if ever, have a problem in school, my heart skipped a beat.  It's usually not good news when you get something in writing from the school, right? 

The envelope contained a letter from the principal and this is what it said:

Dear Parent/Guardian,

During the 2010/2011 school year, your child complied a yearly average of 95 or above.  This is a great accomplishment.  I extend my personal congratulations to you as parents for supporting your child in this endeavor.

It went on to invite us to an assembly next week honoring all students achieving this recognition.  Words cannot even express HOW PROUD I am of my son.  He has learned so much and worked so hard, and even though he is very, very smart, sometimes the "9-year-old boy laziness" gets to be too much and he gets careless or doesn't put forth the effort.  He has been on the honor roll every 6 weeks since he started kindergarten, though, and this year he was only one absence away from achieving perfect attendance.

All of those homework battles seem well worth it now.   Superb job, J.  You've definitely earned your summer vacation!