Mother's Intuition

Last Thursday morning, on the way out the door to school, Zachary asked me to come to his D.A.R.E. Graduation Assembly that morning at 11:00. Sure son, thanks for the notice. I told him that I had to take Anna to ballet that morning and the soonest I would make it there would be 11:30. On top of that, I had family coming to stay with us from St. George that afternoon, was baby-sitting a neighbor's friend, and to top things off, the garage door had just broken. Then I told him that the assembly would probably be really short, just a chance to hand out (meaningless) certificates. (Don't worry...I left out the meaningless.) By the time I got there, the whole thing would be over. (To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the program anyway-- I think this contributed to my reluctance.)

He seemed resigned to my logic and left for school. Ten minutes later, the phone rang as I was heading out the door. It was Zachary. "Hey Mom! Mrs. Rose says the assembly will last an hour so you won't miss the whole thing." I told him again I had a really busy day, but I guess I could try to get there for the second half; I warned him not to get his hopes up. Then I started the mad dash of work and errands that is my life.

At 11:30, I pulled into the neighborhood in a panic of things left undone at home and decided to just drive past the school and go collect my neighbor's little boy and get home to my laundry. Something pricked my conscience as I neared the school, and in the last second, I pulled into the parking lot. After all, my nearly 12-year-old son actually WANTED me to come and participate with him in this. I should take advantage of this desire while it lasts.

I walked in with my gym clothes on and Anna still in her leotard, sat down, picked up a program and discovered Zachary's name was on it! Apparently all the sixth-graders had to write an essay about their experience in D.A.R.E. Then, the officer in charge selected one winner in each class who was awarded a medal and would get to read their essay to the group. Zachary's essay had won! He read his report with his typical uber-serious attitude, even going so far as to raise his hand in the air when he read his pledge to remain drug and alcohol free. It was SO completely Zachary...so full of his personality...so true to his voice. I found myself with many other parents in the room, chuckling at his examples and turns of phrase. This kid is just too good to be true.

I grabbed Zachary afterwards and asked him why he didn't tell me he had won. Apparently, he had been just as surprised as I was to find his name on the program. The officer just showed up to the assembly with the news. His teacher told me later, that the D.A.R.E. officer said it was the best essay he'd ever gotten; he made his entire precinct read it.

How horrible would I have felt if I had ignored that prompting to stop?