The Littlest Part II

I had Lizzy’s Parent Teacher Conference today and met Lizzy’s teacher. She was adorable. I’ve noticed that Hemenway’s principal only hires cute, youthful teachers but I think she outdid herself with Lizzy’s teacher. I wanted to pinch her cheeks!

Often the youngest sibling gets more stuff or to do things younger than the older ones did. I remember my oldest sister telling me that she fought the battle to get to wear makeup and the battle for bangs. We all lost the battle for pierced ears; I rectified that immediately after moving out in college. But I’ve slammed up against the ugly side of youngest sibling privilege! Well, at least the way it works in my family. Lizzy has an old and worn out mother. The kind of mother who assigns a sibling to read to her instead of doing it herself; the kind of mother who has been doing this for years! Brianne read to me everyday through at least second grade. I taught Jacob to read before he started kindergarten. William . . . we’ll leave him out of this. No, maybe not, maybe I can somehow transfer the blame from myself. Anyway, by the time it was Lizzy’s turn I thought I have two readers who can soldier some of Lizzy’s read time.

Well it hasn’t worked very well. Lizzy isn’t quite where she should be in reading. Her teacher was a little confused because she is where she should be in spelling and she said that most kids are in the opposite situation. This is the part of the conversation where I think it diverged from the typical conference. I’m different than other mothers because there is nothing like repeated public humiliation to take away the need for others to admire you. You eventually reach the point where you rarely care about what other people think of you. It’s called Zen. I can find Will at the park wearing only underwear and think well; at least he’s not naked. So, at this part of the conversation I flat out say that it’s probably because I don’t have her read to me. (I gave it to Jacob as a chore. Although now, I must say that I’m reconsidering that assignment!)

My parting comment to the teacher you ask? I mentioned that I might have Lizzy practice addition with her brother.