I am feeling a little more centered today than the past couple days. Sometimes those mood swings hit out of the blue and catapult me into the depths of some post-modern malaise where everything is gray and drab.

Of course, I just bought myself a new pair of sandals, on sale, so that helped perk me up a bit. I had been wearing these $3.00 flip-flops for the past two weeks because my former leather sandals had gotten left out on the back porch. They got wet and when they dried out , they smelled pretty ripe. I tried to Febreeze the smell out of them, but then they only smelled like flowers with B.O.....not exactly the scent I was going for. So, because I have been so busy, I have been getting by with these sad flip-flops. But, no more! Now I can walk around without being followed by the incessant THWOCK.....THWOCK....sound that rubber flip-flops make. That's a really embarassing sound when you're trying to be inconspicuous!

Last night, as I was putting my son to bed, he began talking to me about his Accelerated Reading scores. Accelerated Reading is a program where children read books and take a test to recieve a certain point value. Throughout the year they receive rewards and incentives to read more. Last year he was fifth place and received a medal and some other small things. However, the person who won first place received a shiny trophy. My son was in Kindergarten last year and this was our intro to the AR program. We didn't realize that there would be medals and trophies. Now, that's all he has got on the brain. He's already strategizing on how he can bring that trophy home.

I am not sure how to feel about all this. I love that he's smart and wants to excel, but, do I really want to encourage this level of competitiveness within him? He's only six. On the other hand, all of his intelligence and drive truly do come from inside of him. While we have given him opportunities to learn, we have never pushed him or tried to turn him into one of those children who graduate from high school at the age of twelve. So, do I try to temper this drive within him, knowing that it has a negative aspect to it, or do I nurture it and let him push himself as far as he wants to go?