Kristen and the Bee

Kristen got in the car a few weeks ago and looked upset. I asked her what happened and she said, "Mom, I won the class spelling bee". "Back up here, you won and you are upset?", I ask her. She proceeds to tell me that they take the winners of the class spelling bee and you compete in the school spelling bee. Then the flood of memories from the 3rd grade bee came flooding back. She had got up there to spell her word and got a frog in her throat and it sounded like she repeated the letter, so she was eliminated in the first round. She was devastated and embarrassed and cried. I did too. I was so sad for her and for how disappointed she looked. Who would have thought that a elementary school spelling bee would be so emotional?

This time round she told me she would be competing with the 4th, 5th and 6th graders. Now, that was a whole other ball game! She was scared to death! She worried herself for days about it and I almost called the school and told them she would not be participating, but she kept telling me no. She said she wanted to do it, but was super nervous. So much that when I told her I was going to invite her grandparents, she burst into tears. She even told me that if I went she would be too nervous. The winner of the spelling bee gets to go to the district spelling bee. I asked her what she was going to do it she won. She said she didn't want to win. "You are aware that in order for you not to win, you will have to misspell a word, right?", I asked her. To which she replied, "In that case, if I am in the final two, I will just spell the word wrong and then I can still get a trophy." Apparently, she had thought this through. Thursday morning, I told her to do her best and that is all she can do. Then I sent her out the door with a prayer and a kiss.

She came home off of the bus and walked in with a smile on her face. THANK YOU, Hallelujah, I am thinking to myself. If she would have had another "moment", I think it could have scarred her for life. She told me she was in the top 5, but didn't win. She wanted that trophy, but was pretty pleased that she beat out all the 6th graders and that the winner was another 4 grader. I was excited that she did well. I was also proud of her for going through with the bee in spite of the fear. WAY TO GO KP!