Now that is what I am talking about.

Well, the high Ainsley has had us riding on has finally come crashing down. It appears the model student has come home with a yellow sticker - a mark of minor misbehavior. While it is still not nearly as bad as I have come to expect from her on a daily basis it is a clear indication that the child that we drop off at school every day is most likely the same child answering to the name of Ainsley in Mrs. Lewis' class. For a long while we had doubted it, but given yesterday's evidence, I think we can conclude it is probably the same child.

So, what did she do?

Well, in all due honesty it was not even the exciting. She didn't try and slap the teacher or one of the students on the back of the head. She didn't climb the bookcases. She didn't scream 'No' to her elders at the top of her lungs. They wasn't found under her table chowing down on candy. She wasn't even calling anyone a dummy.

All of these behaviors, by the way, are things that we have seen or heard many times before.

No, Ainsley got in trouble for talking and doodling (of all things) when she wasn't supposed to. While I was just as strict with her as I would have been with any of my other children when they brought home a yellow sticker, it was probably overkill for her transgressions. She did not get any ice cream when we stopped on the way home to celebrate straight As on Sydney's progress report. She also had to spend 30 minutes up in her room while the other kiddos played outside. Of course, there was also a stern talking to with mean Mommy and mean Daddy voices.

Normally, I would feel a sense of accomplishment. After all, it takes mistakes like this to create teachable moments. All of this, and yet, I still feel a bit deflated.

Doodling, really?

Of all of the good things (I mean bad) Ainsley could have gotten in trouble for and I had to give her a lecture on jabbering and doodling.

I am totally disappointed. I expect a lot better misbehavior out of her. I won't tolerate these diddly "doodling" reprimands. I have come to expect much more of her. If she is going to mess up she had better step up her game. That is still not the Ainsley we know.

Kinda backwards purpose, isn't it?