Pushing the Right Button

It's been a while that I haven't checked my daughter's homework. The report cards always looked good. After all, she is old enough to be responsible for her own schoolwork now.

Last night, I don't know what happened, my daughter voluntarily came to show me her latest homework - a composition. The teacher wanted them to write something most memorable. When I read the small piece of paper she handed to me, I almost jumped out of my seat! The thing she wrote was nothing worth remembering. It is one paragraph of words consisting of about 10 short sentences structured like "A is B" or "A did B". The "memorable" thing was so vague, so fuzzy, so empty, so dry, so boring, so... I couldn't believe my eyes - She was the one who was praised by every single teacher that taught her; she was the only student in her class who got an A in their big writing test. Now she seemed to have gone all the way back to the 2nd grade. Suddenly I couldn't think. I was totally distressed. I believe my daughter was ruined, by my negligence.

I don't remember everything that happened afterwards, but I do remember there was lot of my lecturing, lot of her tears, lot of my threatening, lot of her promising, but bottom line - she didn't want to rewrite it! She insisted her composition was just what her teacher wanted. Finally, exhausted, I said, "I don't care. From now on, I will keep your laptop, your stereo, and your CD player until you rewrite it!"

I think the last thing I said pushed the right button - this afternoon, on my desk, I found this brand new composition from her. Though it is not perfect, I was much relieved.

The Hills of Santa Fe

It was the summer of 2004, my family and I went on a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico. We checked into a hotel and immediately went sight seeing. It was very cool. Later in the afternoon around 2:00, we went to one of the biggest hills there, where you ski during the winter. The hills were HUGE! They totally towered over us. I felt puny in their presence. My mother took some pictures of my brother Luke, my dad and me. Then we set out to the top.

The sun was hanging above our heads, but it was still chilly. As we advanced to the top, we stopped to admire the beauty of nature around us. The trees showed off their small green leaves, the wind blew gently around us. We had views of tall majestic trees, the obsolete ski lift hung over us and rocked gently as the wind danced around them. We even found a tiny patch of snow and ice silently and quickly melting into the soft and fertile soil, and the grass crunched beneath our feet as we marched on.

Luke and I hiked ahead. Soon I was in the lead, I felt like we had walked forever, and I was beginning to think we would never get to the top. I was tired, my feet ached, and beads of sweat covered my forehead. I stopped more often to rest, and the mountain became steeper. However, I was encouraged whenever I looked back to see how far we’ve come. To me I felt we’ve covered a great distance. We finally reached the top, and it felt great! The wind greeted us and my energy came back to me. The view was magnificent! Every direction I turned to, there were green grass. The hills’ massiveness decreased a bit, small trees and shrubs waved. The blue sky smiled down upon me. I felt like I could fly. I was very proud.

Though it took forever to climb to the top, in a matter of minutes I was at the bottom again, and all the way down I was all smiles.