Mea culpa

I have been saying that I will finish "the book" for my daughter's entire life.  While she asks about it once in a while, she is not surprised any longer that it is not done.  I've justified it lately, saying that it was more important for me to focus on keeping track of everyone else's tasks, activities, etc.   I had not thought of the larger example I was setting.

Progress reports came home from school last week and while hers was not horrible, it was not indicative of the intelligent daughter we know we have.  On the way to school this morning, I suggested that she set a goal for each class and if she reached her goal by the time report cards come out, we could work out a reward.

She quickly announced that her goal was to get "straight A's!"  I told her I thought that was an excellent goal!  Then she thought about it for a minute.

"No, my goal is to get all As and Bs."

"I'm sure you can do that," I said, "but why not aim for all As?  If you do fall short, you ought to end up with As and Bs."

"Because if I don't meet my goal, I won't get my prize."

We've been frustrated lately by this general attitude.  We have been reminding her all week to finish reading her book as she has a book report due at the end of the month.  Last night, she announced that she will begin working on her report after school today.  She has not finished the book, however!

 Maybe if I make a more obvious attempt to finish my projects, it will at least give her a better example.  (Though growing up watching her father work hard for multiple degrees hasn't made much of an impression on her, apparently!)

She is a smart kid.  She knows she is a smart kid.  She spends her creative energies trying to find loopholes or ways out of work however, rather than just sitting her butt down to do it.  I can't imagine where she gets it!  (Says the woman who got excited about a new writing software program and spent a half an hour playing with it, when she could have just been writing!)