Next week my kids' report cards are due. It's so funny to have to give my own babies grades. What mother doesn't want to see an entire column of A's? Although if they are honest, most mothers know their little angels are far from perfect.

I remember very clearly filling out their grades last quarter. I remember the anguish I felt knowing how betrayed they would feel if tey saw my disappointment reflected in those marks. As it was I never showed them. They have no idea what letter grade I wrote down.

I want so badly for my kids to think beyond their grades and just embrace the process...to delight when they learn a new skill or interesting fact. I want every day to be an adventure for them.

So I sat down and readied myself to be painful honest in their assessments. I allowed myself to go back to that place last quarter as I looked over where they had been. We were still struggling to find our way only a few short months ago...

I looked at all the books laid before me, reflected on each assignment, on where they had been before and I nearly cried.

I saw the little girl who struggled through her simple one paragraph assignments and now slipped off into her room with a copy of Jane Eyre...the boy who insisted he "just couldn't do long division" but knew just how many brownies each classmate could have out of a batch of twenty...

I saw the journey we had taken together in baby steps... and sometimes crawling... but we were no longer where we had started.