a million papers
I went to see Gabriela Catalina's little concert in school last week. When we got there, there was a music stand filled with little programs. Each child had clearly decorated a cover. Some had names on them, most did not. As I flip through the programs, I am trying to find Gabriela Catalina's name when I realize, only about 30 of the 200 programs have names on them. Oh God. Seriously? I look through each one and I can't find hers. Other parents ask me what name I am looking for.
I know my kid. I know she wanted her drawing to be perfect. I know she starts her drawing FIRST and then IF she has time, she will write her name on it, which is only a thousand letters long so it takes nine years. If they only had one class period to draw their cover, there's no chance her name is on it.
I honestly start to sweat. If I don't find hers, not only will she cry, but she will be sad for the entire rest of the day that I did not get to see her beautiful drawing and that she knew I would find it, so how come I didn't? This will end in tears upon tears, I won't be able to leave to go home...I *have* to find hers.
I start looking and looking and I narrow it down to three. Come on... get it right, get it right. Then I see another one out of the corner of my eye. This has to be it. HAS to be. And here's why:
-She's obsessed with making block letters. But she's not good enough yet to just up and do them, she has to write the word down first, then copy it block style.
- There are only girls at the table. Lots of them.
- Six of them. She just turned six. Everything has to be in sixes.
- They are wearing long skirts, which means they are fancy, they must be princesses.
- We've got Elsa, the Frozen girl, on the far left because of the cap and the snow on it.
- In the middle, fourth from the left, is DEFINATELY Rapunzel. The hair flows over the table.
- There is a drawing of a horse in the background that was started, then erased, because she says she's not good at them yet. I know she is trying to learn because her Papo always draws them for her.
- The distinguishing mark? The puffy sleeves. When she first started drawing these two years ago, I thought she kept drawing boobs on all her princesses, until I asked her about them and she told me they are the "puffy sleeves all princesses have"- it's true, they do.
Confident in my selection, I sit down. After the concert is over and we get home at the end of the day, curiosity gets the better of me. I'm not going to lie. I'm kind of afraid. There were 200 drawings there. What if I didn't get it right? She will be so disappointed. I could pretend I didn't get one. I'm going to woman up.
"Gabriela Catalina? Did you make a drawing on one of the programs for today?" I ask.
"Yes!" She smiles. The smile quickly fades. "But I didn't have time to write my name on it in class. He only gave us ONE class to work on it! Did you find it?" She looks at me preparing to cry. I see it.
"I'm not sure. I'm sure whatever you made was beautiful and whoever got to take it home will cherish it forever. This is the one I picked. I'm so sorry if its wrong, but I thought it looked like something you would draw." I take a breath and show it to her. Her face lifts and shines, so bright. She squeals in delight.
"MOMMY! YOU FOUND IT! YOU FOUND IT! HOW did you ever FIND IT! Oh, I KNEW you would find it, I just KNEW you would! Mommy you make me SO happy! I so wanted you to see my beautiful drawing!" She jumped off the couch, ran toward me and flung herself around the middle.
This moment is why I would look through a stack of a million papers every day of my life.
I know my kid. I know she wanted her drawing to be perfect. I know she starts her drawing FIRST and then IF she has time, she will write her name on it, which is only a thousand letters long so it takes nine years. If they only had one class period to draw their cover, there's no chance her name is on it.
I honestly start to sweat. If I don't find hers, not only will she cry, but she will be sad for the entire rest of the day that I did not get to see her beautiful drawing and that she knew I would find it, so how come I didn't? This will end in tears upon tears, I won't be able to leave to go home...I *have* to find hers.
I start looking and looking and I narrow it down to three. Come on... get it right, get it right. Then I see another one out of the corner of my eye. This has to be it. HAS to be. And here's why:
- There are only girls at the table. Lots of them.
- Six of them. She just turned six. Everything has to be in sixes.
- They are wearing long skirts, which means they are fancy, they must be princesses.
- We've got Elsa, the Frozen girl, on the far left because of the cap and the snow on it.
- In the middle, fourth from the left, is DEFINATELY Rapunzel. The hair flows over the table.
- There is a drawing of a horse in the background that was started, then erased, because she says she's not good at them yet. I know she is trying to learn because her Papo always draws them for her.
- The distinguishing mark? The puffy sleeves. When she first started drawing these two years ago, I thought she kept drawing boobs on all her princesses, until I asked her about them and she told me they are the "puffy sleeves all princesses have"- it's true, they do.
Confident in my selection, I sit down. After the concert is over and we get home at the end of the day, curiosity gets the better of me. I'm not going to lie. I'm kind of afraid. There were 200 drawings there. What if I didn't get it right? She will be so disappointed. I could pretend I didn't get one. I'm going to woman up.
"Gabriela Catalina? Did you make a drawing on one of the programs for today?" I ask.
"Yes!" She smiles. The smile quickly fades. "But I didn't have time to write my name on it in class. He only gave us ONE class to work on it! Did you find it?" She looks at me preparing to cry. I see it.
"I'm not sure. I'm sure whatever you made was beautiful and whoever got to take it home will cherish it forever. This is the one I picked. I'm so sorry if its wrong, but I thought it looked like something you would draw." I take a breath and show it to her. Her face lifts and shines, so bright. She squeals in delight.
"MOMMY! YOU FOUND IT! YOU FOUND IT! HOW did you ever FIND IT! Oh, I KNEW you would find it, I just KNEW you would! Mommy you make me SO happy! I so wanted you to see my beautiful drawing!" She jumped off the couch, ran toward me and flung herself around the middle.
This moment is why I would look through a stack of a million papers every day of my life.
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