Doubt

He woke up late. Well, later than usual anyway. It was a few minutes after 7 a.m. when he climbed into my bed. Jill was right behind him. Snuggling with both of them, I whispered, “I can’t believe you are almost a first grader!”

Joe lay perfectly still as if this was a new revelation for him. Then he spoke in a voice that sounded near tears, but also filled with joy. “I am so happy that there are only two more hours of school that I could cry.”

He didn’t cry, I don’t think. He bounced. He bounced through breakfast; through getting dressed and putting his shoes on. He bounced to his back pack and out the door. He didn’t walk to school. He half ran and half bounced. With a quick hug a block before the front door of the school, he ran down the sidewalk and into the building.

When I picked him up 2 and a half hours later, he nervously handed me his report card. “Does it say I know enough to be a first grader?” he asked me, doubt distorting the tone of his voice. I put off giving him an answer until we made it home. Once home, we snuggled up in my bed and went over it one line at a time.

“But did I learn enough?” he asked. I smiled at him and said I thought he had. Then I read him the brief note from his teacher which ended with ‘Good luck in first grade Joe!’ I thought he was going to bounce through the walls and maybe even the floor. I think it is safe to say he is very excited!

*** Daily Writing Practice ***