Good One

My younger son got his first quarter report card yesterday and other than an A+ in Creative Writing (apple/tree), he pulled straight Cs. He's always been a pretty good student without really trying (remember, we're the only underachieving family in the nabe), and we've never really busted his ass about it because we thought there were more important things in life, although I'm hard pressed to tell you right now what we thought those things were.

That's really bullshit. The reason we never got on his case about grades (or anything, for that matter), was because he's always been the "good one" (apple/tree again), and we've always taken that goodness for granted while focusing our attention on our older son's not goodness. And of course that kills me, but that's another story for another time.

"So what's the story?" I asked my younger son as we were driving to school this morning. "What's up with the sea of Cs?"

"I don't know," he said, looking out the window. "The shit is just harder this year. I really don't know."

"Anything I can do?" I asked. "Do you need tutoring or can you go in early for extra help?"

"I don't know. I mean, I know it's all up to me, like if I wanna go to a good college. I guess I'll just have to work harder," he said and paused for a few seconds. "I spoke with my guidance counselor yesterday and he said that he knows that I have a lot of stuff goin' on at home."

"Does that effect your school work?" I asked.

"What do you think?" he shot back.

"Stupid question," I said. "Sorry."

"It's all right," he said as we pulled up to school. "Have a good one."