Parent Teacher Conference 2 and 7 Things

This parent teacher conference for Riley was much less frustrating than the last.

Riley seems to have mastered the craft of standardized tests. Woo hoo! Now, I'm not a fan of these tests by any means, but I also know that they're still a brutal fact, and all my ranting in the world won't change that my children will continue to be subjected to them, and thereby judged by them. So if Riley can kick some standardized-testing butt, you go, girl!

This time, Riley came to the conference and saw me "ooh" and "aah" over her great test scores (all 90% or better). On her progress report card, she received some of her sought-after 4s (what used to be an A back in the day), which made her very happy.

Mrs. R also complimented Riley on being more responsible and not losing track of things as much as before, so that's also great news. Let's hope it can translate more at home as well!

The only area still of concern is her writing. She can do it when she really focuses on writing neater, but - as most people I know - she tends to get frantic and write quickly. I do that, too. We talked about her practicing more to get better at it, and make it come easier to her, but I have to confess...I don't much care about that. By the time she's in high school and beyond, anything of educational or career value will be on the computer anyway. Again, we can lament the loss of good handwriting skills all we want - it's still not going to change the reality of our technological world (she typed).

I decided to try and make a big deal of this as possible (and also give myself a break - close to the end of the day, I got a call that there's a very viable buyer for the condo) and we went to Weinerschnitzel's (Riley's favorite) for dinner. Riley was thrilled, Sylvia was thrilled, everybody had a happy night. I think I'm done with parent teacher conferences for Riley for the year. Phew!

And now for something completely different (is that copyrighted?):

I love it when the cool kids tag me! Tara at If Mom Says OK, who serves as inspiration to many of us through her wisdom of having "been there, done that" has tagged me for the 7 Things Meme.

Here are the rules

Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog
Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I admit, I'm biased against the well-off. I very rarely feel comfortable in their company. Every now and then, I get the opportunity to rub elbows (through my "show biz" past and my "living in L.A." present), and it's always surreal for me. Sometimes, stuff happens that reinforces my feeling of not belonging there, but sometimes I have a really good time. But I always suffer for the first few minutes feeling like I should've gone in the servants' entrance instead. I'm acknowledging the prejudice exists at least. Maybe if I had more opportunity - LOL - I'd get over it!

2. IMing scares me (CableGirl knows this one :). I always feel under pressure to be witty and instantly! I prefer the slower pace of blogs and emails...and being able to backspace, backspace, delete!

3. I talk to myself way too much...and not always when I'm alone, either. Sometimes (usually at work), I wish I were alone so that I could talk to myself in private, thank you very much!

4. I really, really want to be the "perfect parent." I don't want to accept the reality that I already have not been, nor ever will be.

5. I am fully aware that I use quotations "way" too much. Whatever!

6. I love being in the middle of a really good book, but inevitably, I ruin it for myself by staying up way too late to finish it and then regret it in the morning.

7. I started this 7 things post 4 days ago, and still can't come up with a 7th thing. I give up.

If you would like, consider yourself tagged.