sweeter

So.

I pull into the pick-up lane at school this afternoon. It’s the one designated for parents to pull up, let the kids hop in, and pull away again. There’s no parking allowed. Bump walked to the car alone and I held up my hands in the, “Where’s your brother?” body language. Because he’s actually forgotten that he has a brother several times this year. Seriously. He gets in the car and I say, “Where’s your brother?” He looks at me blankly for a sec and then exclaims, “Oh, yeah!” and runs over to the first grade line to get Crash.

Anyway, so he signals for me to roll down the window and says, “Crash’s teacher says she has some news for you.” I sigh a little. I was sick today. I managed to throw a little bit of make-up on before I left the house but I am wearing a pair of shorts and a gray cami tank without the appropriate undergarment required for being seen in public. But I pull to the other curb anyway, grab a little fleece jacket from the backseat and pull it on over my tank despite the fact that it is 90 degrees outside.

She was chatting with the other teachers and smiled when I walked up to them. She pulled me aside, grinned mysteriously and stage whispered, “Crash doesn’t know it yet, but he made a 100 on his Spelling test today.”

It took a few seconds for it to sink in. When it did, I felt a smile spread across my face and I held up my hand and gave the teacher a high five. I looked down at my son, who was sitting cross-legged on the grass with his classmates, oblivious of his accomplishment. He sensed my presence and turned his little face up to me, “Mom! Hi Mom!” I bent down for my customary after-school hug and he held his arms wrapped around my neck even as I straightened back up. He giggled and buried his face against my shirt when his feet swung up off of the ground.

I wanted so badly to tell him that he’d made a perfect grade on his Spelling test. He’s been working so hard to learn to read and spell. Last week, he thought he’d only missed one word and was a little crestfallen to learn he’d missed three.

The three of us went out for ice cream. Pink bubble gum for Crash, chocolate almond for Bump, and chocolate chip for me. As he scraped at his ice cream with his little taster spoon, I asked him, “How do you think you did on your Spelling test today?” He smacked his lips and said, “I think I made a 90. I think I missed one.”

That’s why I won’t tell him that he made a 100%. I want him to be pleasantly surprised when his teacher hands the test back to him. I want to see the look of triumph in his eye when he proudly presents his perfect grade to me after school.

We will celebrate with ice cream again on Monday. I suspect it will taste all the sweeter to him.