LEST I FORGET - SARI IS THE FULL PACKAGE DEAL

Prequel -

Mead School District (and the state of Washington) has this GREAT idea where the Seniors have to do a presentation to a couple of community members about what they've learned, what they are going to do with their lives, and how they are going to contribute productively to society. I have attended this Senior Presentations with awe (and dismay). It really is a great idea to sum up the last 18 years of your life and put to words and pictures what you want to accomplish.

What I don't love about this idea is that they decided that starting in 7th grade the kids are going to "practice" this. So, for parent - teacher conferences I get to go see Rachel practice ("I do my best, it isn't perfect, but I am working on it, I can do better") , Ben practice ("yeah, I know I need to do homework because, uh, clearly, uhm, just getting As on tests doesn't mean, ahm, you know, that the teacher is going to give me an A ... but really, if I know it already why do I have to do the homework?"), and now Sari practice. I understand why this is good, but for me is redundant. One teacher even said, "This kind of thing isn't for parents like you." haha Is that a compliment? I'm not entirely sure...

ANYWAY. Back to today.

In March, Sari's advisor double booked and so she canceled. Then I had to reschedule because we went to Baton Rouge. The rescheduled time was the day after Sari had her emergency appy. Needless to say, we missed it. I even called them before we missed it, and was told someone would call me to reschedule. Last week I got a MEAN letter in the mail from someone who is the advisory henchwoman who deals with bad parents and about how it was so important to have this meeting and develop my child's self blah blah blah and how they had left repeated messages and that is why they were sending a letter SNAIL MAIL is to be sure I HAD TO read it and call them and if I was too big of a loser, they would call a teacher in to be a substitute parent for MY child to report to.

(I never received a phone call and we are moving anyway. But for the sake of Sari's blah blah blah I called and scheduled a time to go to the SLC (student-led conference).)

Today I have approximately one million things to do and I am running on 4 hours of sleep so my vertigo is about a 6.7 and my Childbirth-Induced-ADD is about a 10.6. Nice. Nevertheless, after driving Larry into work and back (the Suburban is dead again - can we really drive it to Lousiana?!) and getting the boys to the Elementary school "Miles of Smiles" fund raiser and dealing with Matthew hating all of his clothes ("these are all OLD! Joseph AND Daniel wore them! I want something that is MINE!") I made it to the Middle School to save Sari's blah blah blah.

(She likes to wear this kind of stuff because she loves her Auntie Teilani and she knows her dad and I bleed BYU blue. But this isn't a picture of her today. I should totally take one though, she looks super cute! It is "Don't FryDay" a cute way to promote skin sun protection.)

SO, I went and met the substitute SLC lady. Sari came in and did her presentation:

This is my personality color, this is what it means, this is how I communicate, this is what is important to me, this is what kind of career appeals to me, this is what I want to do, this is how I am going to do.

This is my school work samples, I picked this because it is my best work, I picked this because it isn't my best work but I learned blah blah blah, I picked this because I liked this assignment. These are the goals I made and these are the steps I took to accomplish the goals and this is how I did on it.

This is what I do outside of school. I sing at Nursing homes, I run cross country, I dance hula. In hula we dance for old people, for the cancer society, for veterans, fund-raisers, and for fun.

Do you have any questions?

Me: "Sari, I love your Sariness!"

Lady: "I don't have any questions, but I do have a comment, is that okay?" (this will be my best recount:)

Pause.

"This comment comes from the fact that I have seen literally hundreds of these presentations from all age groups and grades. I TEACH grown ups and kids how to present themselves, how to sell their good qualities, I teach public speaking, so be sure to consider that with what I am about to say."

Pause. Sari and I nod nervously. I think about how to put Sari back together again when this is over. We look at the stoic lady. She continues the pause in our lives. Then,

"You, Sari, are the FULL PACKAGE DEAL. I want to bottle you up. This is the best, most organized presentation I have ever seen. Your skills at communicating and presenting are phenominal. I am so impressed. (No smiles, very serious.) I would like you to be the one in the video they are making to show how to do a presentation. Is that something you are willing to do? I would like to use your binder as a sample packet. But it's not just your work, although this is impressive (pats portfolio). It is your countenance, your smile, your confidence, your inner beauty and sense of self. There are a few student-led leadership opportunities I would like to submit your name for, for next year and the year after that. ... I want to put you in a bubble to keep you this way, and to protect you."

PAUSE.

She went on to ask Sari if anyone had ever said anything mean to her and what did she do about it. I thought - if only she knew!

Sari said yes that had happened and she tried to just blow it off and not think about it. She tried to concentrate on her friends who were kind to her.

The lady nodded and then said, "The thing is ... with people such as yourself, really special, talented, unique people, other people try to bring them down. They try to cut out your ... "Sariness", I like that (my term). Don't let them. If someone is mean to you it is because they feel badly about themselves. Always rise above what you see around you. You are the kind of person that others will be jealous of. Remember that."

I was in shock. This is NOT what I expected from the tone of the letter I got from her.

Sari told her we were moving to Baton Rouge. She said to be sure to find a gifted and talented place for Sari to attend, she would write her the necessary letters and hook her up as best she could. She was just effusive and vociferous in her praise of and to Sari. Sari walked out on cloud 9. And so did I.

And here is Miss Sari today. I really LOVE how she let her friends write all over her arms. NOT!