My Determined One...

A couple of weeks ago, while in the car, Bailey told me that she was having a hard time in school and felt that she wasn't as smart as the other kids in her class. I told her she was smart, but I didn't think she was focusing in school. When Bailey sets her head to do something she does it and excels, but if it doesn't hold her attention she has a great tendency to let herself wander. She didn't like my answer, but we continued to talk about it. She wanted to blame me for not telling her everything she needed to know in first grade, however, I explained to her that I do not know everthing ( I know, I let her know our secret), and I don't always know what is going on in her classroom. I explained that if she felt she was having problems, it was her responsibility to talk with her teacher and ask for help. I know that it is my responsibility as well and I have set up a conference with her teacher in the new year as well as having her tested for learning disabilities, but I am very big on teaching my children to be responsible for themselves and be independent. I am not always going to be there to help them out. I was always afraid to speak up as a child and I do not want my children to be like me in that way.
Anyways, in the end I told her that I was proud of her, because she is doing well in school, she always makes A's and B's on her tests. But she stubbornly told me that she didn't want B's, she wanted A's and she didn't just want A's, but A+'s. And to that I replied then you have to set your head to do it. This conversation was on Wednesday two weeks ago. Last week, I think on Thursday, I got a note from Bailey's teacher, telling me that Bailey had had an excellent (underlined several times) week both academically and behaviorally! This was before I spoke with her to set up a conference. Talk about determination!! All of her school work had "100" or A+. It was really quite amazing. Of course I made a big deal. I mean to set your head to do something and do it so well, I was impressed. Now I don't know how long this determination thing will last, I guess time will tell, but it was a pretty cool parent moment.