While driving to dinner last night, she told me she had to tell me something. She said she was going to wait until have AWANA but she just couldn't keep in only in her mind for that long. When I asked her what happened, she explained that they had been taking a test and she was talking. Mr. Garcia came over and took her test away. By this time, she is bawling!
By the way she was acting, I was beginning to wonder if there was more to the story. Here's how our conversation went:
Me: Were you cheating?
Kylee: No, Mom!
Me: Were you talking?
Kylee: Yes, ma'am.
Me: Did you know you weren't supposed to be?
Kylee: (sobbing) Yes, ma'am.
Me: Who were you talking to?
Kylee: Leslie.
Me: About what?
Kylee: A store we are going to make. (more sobbing)
Me: Kylee, why are you so upset? I understand you're in trouble, but I'm not really mad. Nobody is perfect, not even you. You will have to suffer the consequences of what you did, but nobody is just really, really mad at you.
Kylee: (sobbing even harder) Mommy, it was TWO terrific kids talking! AND you have to go see Mr. Garcia at 7:10 in the morning! (Sobbing even harder than before)
Me:
Kylee: (REALLY sobbing) I don't want him to be mad at me!!
Bless her heart!! Is it possible to be PROUD of your child when she's done something wrong? I was so proud of her that she was upset and worried about what she'd done.
I KNEW she hadn't cheated. I KNEW it was just an honest mistake. I was so proud that she was the kind of kid that I DID KNOW those were truths.
She, of course, didn't want me to tell her Daddy, but I told her I had to, that I couldn't hide things from him because then I was doing something wrong. He had the same reaction I did, but she still worried about seeing Mr. Garcia.
This morning, we headed in to see him. I think I may be as in love with him now as she is. He asked if she had told me what had happened yesterday. I told him she had, and he turned to her. I wasn't sure who was going to cry first, Mr. Garcia or Kylee. Luckily, neither of them did, but they were both pretty upset. He told her that she was still "My Kylee" and still a "Terrific Kid". He told her he still thought the world of her and this didn't change that. He then asked her, "Were you cheating?" She said, "No, sir." He told her that he believed her, but that there were kids in the class who would have been cheating if talking and he couldn't treat her differently. He told me that the reason he wanted to see the parents (evidentally Kylee wasn't the only one) was because he wanted it to be the kids' responsibility of telling the parents, but he wanted to make sure the parents knew the truth. When I left, Kylee was smiling and feeling better, and I actually think Mr. Garcia was, too.
She is STILL my Terrific Kid! And I may have been more proud of her in this time of trouble than I have been for other things!
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