3 days ago
- General
- Wall Street Journal
I Am Reveling in My Daughter's Achievements. I Am Also Maybe Envious of Them.
On a rainy evening in June, I filed into a basement auditorium with a crowd of other parents to see our 7th-graders inducted into the National Junior Honor Society. My daughter, looking quietly proud, spared us a furtive wave from the side of the stage. I tucked a few lavender-colored fliers into my purse for souvenirs. After the ceremony, the children were feted with Costco sheet cake. It was all very sweet.
This is not an experience my own parents ever had. My own 7th-grade report card was a dot-matrix portrait of mediocrity. As was my 8th-grade, 9th-grade, 10th—you get the picture.