Pink Shoes and Spelling Bees: A Personal Day

Greetings.

An entirely different and possibly useless post follows. If you don’t like warm fuzzies, you can stop reading now. If you want to get into my head a little bit and wonder if anything else lurks in there besides dystopian fantasies and madness, by all means, please continue.

Today, my daughter, China, was the representative of her 6th grade class in her spelling bee. Not the entire sixth grade but one of 8th 6th graders going up against a like number of 7th and 8th graders. Naturally, I was there. Not being particularly competitive myself, I told her I was already proud of her and to relax, have fun, and do her best. As the first round started with the word Waffle for some kid, I began doodling out some organizations for AoO….Circle of Osiris…Hand of Rasputin, and, oh yeah, do I want the Cult of the Owl in this or replace it with the Circle of Osiris? Then it gets close to her and I start getting nervous. Don’t get out the first round, I think. No one should punk out the first round.

Round 1: Sensory. Piece of cake. She rattles it off this round and every round with perfect composure.

The rounds in order.

Round 1: sensory
Four kids drop out.

Round 2: pursuer
Another four. Down to sixteen. I’m doodling pictures and paying rapt attention now.

Round 3: precipitation. I’m thinking, take your time. Most of the audience was markedly impressed. Lost two. I’m thinking, we’ll be here all day at this rate. Down to fourteen. One girl walked off the stage in tears. I think she must’ve studied all weekend for this or something.

The next round was the round of attrition.
Round 4: interference. I’m thinking, if all the words are like this, she’ll win. End of the round leaves eight standing. Then she gets the friggin’ word, quiche. It’s a friggin’ French word for Christ’s sake. How many 11 year olds know that word anyway? My daughter sure isn’t the next Martha Stewart. She fails.

Being my girl, she leaves the stage head high and pissed. She glowers as she sits down, eyes burning holes in the lunch table. Suddenly, a reprieve. The winner is declared and she gets to go back up for second and third place run-offs. This round she takes the first seat and misses this word and the next word after…entymologist was one word.

Did I mention she’s been the last 6th grader since round 3? Anyway…she gets the word luminosity on the final round and nails it. There is a collective gasp from all the kids and adults. I don’t if anyone besides my girl and me knew how to spell it. She gets third place. A trophy in the spring awaits her. The kids cheered her by name. She let out a little cheer for herself and did the victory arm pump. She might’ve gotten third, but she rocked it for the 6th grade class and her attitude carried the Spelling Bee.

Then I had to get pink shoes for her Christmas show thing. Two hours, two light pink closed-toe shoes. One for each foot for a half hour shoe. Such is life.

Now back to my usual madness.

Regards,

Sean