Friday, November 26, 2010

Report card time

My oldest daughter Breanna came home from high school (middelbare school in Dutch) with her report card and a big smile on her face.  I knew it had to be good, she was just so excited to show us.  I remember report card time as a time of grief, guilt and wondering how I can hide it from my parents.  We will expect to see about three or four report cards from Breanna each year.  This one wasn't perfect but it was one to be very proud of.  Marks here are graded out of 10 and not A,B,C... The value is pretty much the same though.
After looking at her marks and telling her how proud we were of her she was very quick to ask, "well, what do I get?" hmmm don't get me wrong I am extremely proud of her but maybe it's just me but I never got anything for report cards except my end report card.  Apparently offering a hug and a pat on her back wasn't what she was looking for.  That offer sent me on the "worst mommy of the year list".  To put myself back on the best mommy of the year list, my husband and I offered to bring her to the Harry Potter movie this weekend.  BINGO that worked. 
Supper time was at Oma and Opa's today and Breanna as proud as she had every right to be brought her report card with her.  Oma and Opa were also very proud of their granddaughters grades and like second nature had their wallets out and they were emptying it out into Breanna's hand.  Ok I barely bat a lash, I'm used to this by now - Oma and Opa spoil their grandgirls. Then uncle came and right away Breanna had her report card out again and she was hinting telling him how much she just got from Oma and Opa.  I gasped and turned to my husband and asked him under my breath if she is asking for money.  "No this is normal" he reassured me.  Normal?  are you kidding me?  My husband continued to tell me how he would make his rounds with each and every report card robbing his poor aunts of their hard earned money (and anybody else he could sucker out of their money).  I think something happens to these Dutch people when they see a teenager with puppy dog eyes holding onto a fresh report card, it just makes them want to pop their wallets out.  I swear I grew up in the wrong country cause I know for sure I could have made a killing with my large family!

3 comments:

Tammy said...

Oh man, even if we did get money I'd still get diddly squat for my report cards, I was a terrible student.

Invader_Stu said...

We never got report cards in England but if we did I might have been doing the same.

Sarah T. said...

My kids always moan that they don't get presents for their reports. They also get very morose when their friends get presents (usually a brand new bike!!!) for first communion. Poor mistreated kids! It's not easy living in this country with two British parents and grandparents in the UK who never send presents or money. Shame!