A few weeks into the 5th grade, I realized that things were going to be a little more challenging this year academically. This is the year that they begin morphing you from kid into student. You have to be responsible for your things as you move between 4 classrooms. You have to write down AND follow directions correctly. Not only was the bar raised in the responsibility area of becoming a student but the academics were taken up a notch as well. We had the talk about reviewing her words every night, thinking through every subject and what could she do to stay on top or get ahead (we have busy schedules). In most of her tests there was no detailed sheet to study from...you just study the chapter. Or there may have been a set of 50 words and only 25 would be on the test....there was no notice that said you'll be given the definitions and a word bank or you'll be given the word, you write the definition. It was a little more challenging. Now don't read me the wrong way....there was not one ounce of me that was opposed to this....but there were many others. I started panicing when parents were calling me asking how Calli did on a test and I didn't even know there was a test. There were parents having conferences regularly and I was thinking 'maybe I should have a conference'. So as I could tell that this would be a year for Calli to focus and as I heard her plea for a phone many times over, I decided to use it as an incentive. You make straight A's all year and I'll get you a phone.
Luckily for us, Calli never had any of the issues that some of the others were having and Calli stepped up to the plate, studied regularly, made excellent grades and became a model student in most cases. Whew! So, fast forward to about a month ago. I was watching Calli's tumble class from upstairs at the gym and all of a sudden she fell backwards. Almost like she tripped on her heels as she went to do a back tuck. Her coach had her do it again and she couldn't...and again...and again...and again...each try she'd finish a round off and just jump straight in the air. What in the world?!?!!? Calli has been doing these skills for almost a year now, what could possibly go wrong. I went down stairs and stood at the doorway. Her coach made eye contact with me, shrugged his shoulders and sent her over to me. She was scared. What?!?! How does this happen?!?! She was having a mental block and on tumbling passes that she had done thousands of times, she now "could not do". The mental block went on for about 2 weeks. Wes would give her pep talks every time before class and she'd syke herself up only to leave with tears in her eyes.
It was then Wes pulled out his big parenting skills.....bribery! The bribe? "If you throw your tumbling passes, get over you mental block, I'll get you your phone." She still had another week of "I can't's...but I want to reeeeaaaallllly bad" but she finally got over it. And when she did, her coach made her do it several times right there on the spot. And Wes took her the next day to AT&T to pick out the phone. Which of course she couldn't decide on and made me come up to help her.
And now we have created a monster. The first 2 days were spent texting everyone she knew. She would text me from the next room. She texted Wes when we went into the movie "I'm going in the movie but you can still text me". Oh well she earned it! And she'll finish earning it these last few weeks of school...where has the year gone?
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