Being a Leader...

Lucy is working on learning about mail in school right now. The kids all made their own mailboxes and Valentine's bags. Each day, they write each other little notes, and practice filling out real addresses on real envelopes.

The other night at the dinner table, we talked about these notes. I asked her who she wrote to and who she received letters from. Then she said, "You know what mom? K and B didn't have any notes in their mailboxes, because they get in trouble a lot and don't have a lot of friends. So I wrote them both notes so they'd have something in their mailbox."

I told her that was just about the kindest thing I had ever heard a first grader ever doing. Then Dad told her that it was something a real leader would do, and how proud we were of her. I especially liked that she did this completely unprompted, and probably wouldn't have even mentioned it if I hadn't asked the questions at the dinner table. My girl.

This morning, I was lucky enough to spend two hours volunteering in Lucy's class. The teacher keeps me busy - there is no lolly gagging in first grade. I assessed 20 kids on their work with money, made a poster for a toy store, stapled 25 Valentine's together, and took everyone's picture for an upcoming craft. Whew! But the highlight was when it was time for four kids to stand up to the microphone and read their chosen poems. Kindly, Lucy's teacher chose her so I could see her in action.

I saw some smiles and whispers between Lucy and Mrs. B. Apparently, Lucy had chosen
a song, of course, from the Martin Luther King Celebration a few weeks back. AND...had requested to sing it to the class. A few clicks of the laptop by Mrs. B and the entire class has broken out into "The Waving Flag" with clapping, viewing of the video on the projector, and Lucy Cavanaugh belting out the words into her microphone.

"I can't believe how brave I just was," she said (with her toothless smile), as she hopped right over to a chair near me so I could assess her money skills. Um, yep. Just another Friday morning in the life of the amazing Lucy.