Why are my kids so much better than yours?

But for real?  Why?

Rex and Alice have both received the Kwanis Student of the Month Award this year.  Alice got it way back in October and Rex got it in November.  They are practically perfect, at school.  According to their teachers, they both reach out to others in the class, help others with work, are quick to respond to requests from the teacher and work hard.  Now if I could just get Rex to stop jumping on my couch.  

Rex also got several awards for meeting his reading goals.  If he can find enough books to read, he'll read a book a day.  He earned all A's for 1st quarter and had perfect attendance.  I really wish they wouldn't do the perfect attendance, now it's going to be harder to convince Rex to ditch school to play with me.

Now to answer the question, why are my children so awesome?  I'm their mom, obviously.  No really.  I am really good at school and if there's one thing I've learned it's that you need to befriend the teacher--always go to office hours the first week of the semester and introduce yourself in a non-classroom setting.  The teacher will remember you better and will have a more positive light of you when grading.  I also always took my papers in to be read by my professors a week or so before the due date.  This did several things, 1.  I got the professor's opinion on what he/she liked in a paper and had time to adjust accordingly, 2. gave me more face time with the professor, 3. showed my effort and concern, 4. (and here's the kicker) because my professor had already read the paper and discussed it with me, when they went to grade it, they already had in their mind what I was trying to say, even if I didn't successfully say it.  I try to tell my young women going to college these things and they never believe me, but they really should.  I graduated with a 3.97 from BYU and a 4.0 from Utah State.  I know how to do school.

So how does this apply to my elementary school students?  I make sure I introduce myself to the teachers the first week of school and say something clever or funny so they have a positive view of my kids before school even starts.  I also sign up for every field trip, to be room mom, and to help in the class as much as possible with 2 littles in tow.  This shows my concern and willingness to help and they soften up towards my kids.  The one year I didn't do this, did not go well for Rex.  He didn't get Student of the Month and his teacher graded his tests wrong/differently than she should have.  I rest my case.

It also helps to have some genuinely sweet, intelligent, caring children despite their sassy and rude parents.