Atta Boy!

Strong leader... Well liked... Unique sense of humor... Sounds like something we'd hear in a political campaign ad, but these were actually taken off Carter's first semester report card.

And like every well-rounded politician, the candidate also tends to be "silly in social situations" and will have to "concentrate on using time wisely."

Yes, we were pleased with the first semester efforts in fifth grade (4 A's, 3 B's) and the teacher comments. Plenty of good, but he's not perfect. In other words, no surprises. He's definitely our kid!

We're not the type of parents who pay our kids for A's and B's. Yet. Nothing against those who do. We just don't want him setting goals for the wrong reasons. We want him to enjoy the learning process however he can and get the most out of it. (When he gets to college, then he can pull the all-nighters to cram for a test and forget everything he studied a week later!)

So we gave him an "atta boy" and we did let him call Grandpa and Grandma to brag a bit. For now we'll just keep encouraging him to keep up the good work. (And we'll save our dollars for junior high when we know from experience that a little incentive can go a long way!)