MOI BRILLIANT SON!

I had my first parent-teacher conference this week. As this was the first time we would have some assessment of how Michael is doing in school, I was a bit nervous. Remember that Michael's schooling had been sporadic and didn't even start until he was 8 years old, that he was in fourth grade in Colombia (though the quality of orphanage schooling is difficult), and that we placed him in sixth grade here in the U.S. primarily due to his age (13 years).

Well.

Not only did he get fulsome compliments from everyone on his work ethic, intelligence and personality, two classes were able to share some grades. To wit:

Science: A+ (not just an "A", mind you -- an A+!)
Math: A (and not just an "A", mind you, but he is apparently the second-best student in the whole math class! And, yes, he is going to an excellent school.)

To move from someone who'd never multiplied a number as of March to someone today who is the second-best math student in a grade two years ahead of where he had been studying...?! MY SON IS BRILLIANT!

And the principal confirmed: though he only will have spent about two months in sixth grade, he will advance to 7th grade in the Fall!

My son is brilliant...but, once, he was considered disposable. How many tragedies exist in orphanages? There are hundreds of millions of orphans worldwide, and the most difficult to adopt are the older children ("older" being defined as low as over 4 years of age). [Contact me if you or someone you know may be interested in older child adoption.]

Michael's result just shows what children (humans) are capable of with appropriate nurturing.

And now, if you will excuse Moi, I am off to CELEBRATE! Meanwhile, here is Michael with Achilles: