Life of Crime

I know many of you have wanted to know more about my facebook post regarding Ciara and the forged signature.

Here is the whole story:

In her class, if you forget (or just don't do) a homework assignment, your name is written on the board.

For my perfectionist daughter, this is probably the worst punishment.

Not only has she made a mistake, but EVERYONE knows about it.

I think what happened is that she forgot to bring home her reading assignment one day, and instead of just doing it the next day, she chose to write her dad's signature on the paper so her name would not be written on the board.

I also think it has to do with the fact that she does not have a great teacher this year.

The teacher shows no interest in the kids, and doesn't seem to relate to them at all.

I have been very disappointed.

Because of this, Ciara doesn't see the need to try.

We have talked about it, but trying to explain to your 7 year old that you have to learn no matter who teaches can get tricky.

She is also having trouble with the kids in her class.

Some girls that she thought were her friends at the beginning of the year have become less nice.

Ciara gets very upset when people don't like her.

I blame this on the fact that my daughter has been raised to believe that everyone adores her.

(Because, let's face it, who doesn't?)

But with a teacher who doesn't care, and classmates that are not very nice, 2nd grade is becoming rather difficult for her.

Hence, her life of crime choice.

When I was informed that she forged a signature, my mind immediately flashed forward 10-15 years, and I was terrified that this was a pattern that was going to keep repeating.

I mean, if you are already forging signatures at age 7, what will you be doing at age 17??

I have tried to take a step back, and realize that this is not a pattern, just a one-time incident.

We just need a better teacher, and class.

I did beg her first grade teacher to just follow Ciara through all the grades.

We love her.

But since that probably won't happen, we will just have to figure out how to deal with difficult people.

Still, age 7 just seems too young to have to learn this.

Our Holiday

I was able to overcome my Grinch-y feeling before Christmas, and we had a wonderful time.

Santa's big gift to the kids this year was a trip to NYC with a stop at the American Girl store, Nintendo World, Lego Store, and FAO Schwartz.  

He did what he could, and wrote them a letter and filled their stockings.

But I think the kids were initially confused.

They came down expecting piles of presents, and instead saw a letter.

After they read it, they were more excited, but it was rather amusing at first to see the confusion on their faces.

For Christmas dinner, we met some friends for Chinese food, which was so fun!

I definitely would do that again, no worrying about cooking, or clean up.

New Year's Eve we went to a friends house as well.

Food, fun, a quick piano concert, and a rubix cube rounded out our evening.

And now we are already past the first week of January.

Time goes by way too quickly.

I hope we have a medically quieter year, no more cancer, tree crushings, or ear infections (or fractured fingers).