Annie assures me that's not what they say

Alex and Annie are both in the Explorer's program at their schools.  It's the program for smarty-pants kids they have here.  For Alex, that means he has one teacher for the last 2 classes of the day, Social Studies and Literature.  It turns out, Alex is really smart with zero motivation or gumption.  He pulled a C+ in literature for fall quarter.  And got grounded.  Apparently, he really likes to do the projects that she assigns based on the books they read but he doesn't like the writing piece.  So he just doesn't do it.

I thought he was doing much better so far this quarter so when we went to turn in the family tree project I made WE made, I was shocked to hear his teacher tell us that he has an F in literature at this moment. 

Actually, shocked doesn't cover it.  I was mortified.  "HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?!?"  I seethed through clenched teeth.  "I just forgot."

His teacher filled in the words I could not come up with at that moment (my eyes were spinning in their sockets too fast) "That is not acceptable".

He is now grounded from everything.  Forever.  He tried to placate me with the fact that one assignment which he never turned in, she gave him 50/100 since she knew he had started it.  Then he said "And I got 100% on my family tree.  So now I have a D+. Can I be un-grounded now?"

He was completely unbelieving that I would require a solid B before he will be ungrounded.  Incredulous, even.  "That's going to take, like, forever!!!" 

"But so will my embarrassment at you having had an F," was my only reply.

Explorer's for Annie happens at another elementary school in town.  Two days every week, Annie rides a bus to the other school for 3 hours of smart-kid fun.  She wasn't loving the idea of working hard or having homework for the first time in her life, but she has grown to enjoy the idea of extra learning and applying herself.  It does, however, mean that she misses parts of her regular class. 

The Christmas program is coming up which means there is extra music class.  Annie is missing some of the practice sessions.  Her teacher sent home a CD with all the songs from her program for Annie to learn and practice to.  Annie firmly believes that they must be practiced at full volume on a continuous loop. 

She thinks she is doing a kind thing by closing the bedroom door while she listens.  All it does is distort the noise coming through to the rest of the house. 

I'm super looking forward to the Christmas program.  The girls love singing and performing and all the little kiddos make for a great entertainment each year. 

And I'll finally know why they say "We are 8 tiny reindeer working from Sesame Street!"