We're Back To Insanity!

The silly season began with a vengeance at 4pm today...that's when all the sports and chaos converged into one...long...track meet, baseball practice (x2), booster club meeting...

It started with Cameron's first track meet of the year. He ran three races - the 1600 (or mile)...he came in third (impressive). Then the 400 - which incidentally took place about five minutes after the mile...he came in fifth (still impressive given his exhaustion). Then the 4 X 400 relay - his team SMOKED the competition - in fact, these boys were only 15 seconds off the school record WITH NO PRACTICE! They literally assembled the team while at the meet!

As Cameron was running amok; two baseball practices began - his and Jackson's - but he was an hour late for his and Jackson had to leave and find another place to practice as every field was full. So our best laid plan of being able to attend the Gridiron Booster Club meeting while two were at practice was fouled up!

As it was, I left with Caeden to find Jackson and his team - somewhere south of our town...Cameron walked to his practice at the south end of the school...and John went to the Gridiron alone!

We all converged back here at 8:10 for a late night pizza and homework.

And so it begins...

Report Cards and Sports

Cameron has a "C" in Social Studies. This would not be much of an issue for most families but it brought Cameron to tears when he had to tell me.

John and I have set a policy with our sons that they have to have "A's and B's" in school or THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PLAY SPORTS!

Sound harsh? I suppose on the surface, but by way of explanation you have to understand what we're dealing with.

Cameron has been identified as gifted in every area except Math (the irony is that math is his favorite subject!) - his IQ is 143! Now I expect that is an exaggerated number but I do know he read the Dune series of books in 5th grade, so that must make him pretty smart.

When the school called me a few years ago to share Cameron's gifted designation, I said - "I think you have the wrong son"! Jackson has ALWAYS been an exceptional learner. He could take a blank map of the U.S. and tell you all the States and their captitals - in 1st GRADE! Then, of course, his spelling ability. His memory retention is astounding - I thank Aspergers for this - who would think we would ever be thankful for Aspergers?!? Of course, none of this classifies him as gifted but he's pretty damn brilliant in my eyes!

So - because of these traits, Cameron and Jackson are expected to do well in school. If they aren't, it is simply a matter of effort. Caeden, my dear sweet baby, puts in more effort in school than both of his brothers - combined - but he usually gets B's and C's. So we placed a caveat on our 'C' rule - if you've shown your best effort, we can negotiate.

Cameron did not show his best effort in Social Studies - missing assignments and not studying for tests. But here's the rub - he knew he screwed up big time. He took full responsibility. He promised he would get high honors in ALL subjects the next nine weeks (straight A's). He was in tears...

As this was the first time we had to enforce our rule, we had to step back and re-evaluate. If we told him he couldn't wrestle now - with two weeks left in the season - it would hurt his team tremendously. If we told him he couldn't play baseball, it could jeopardize his whole season on this select team. There was one sport left...Track and Field.

So here's the plan - he needs to get at least 90% in Social Studies (a high B) and all other subjects this next period, or he cannot go out for Track. He still says he's going for High Honors to prove to himself what he can do! (I'm smiling inside at this one...)

By the way - Jackson has High Honors...and Caeden? His first report card without a C! You go baby...