My daughter Maddy went to school w/ me today.....she was my guest speaker. She asked me a couple of weeks ago if she could give an informative speech to my students, not for a school assignment but b/c she wanted to. I know.....my students were amazed too that an 8th grader would volunteer to give a speech to college students. Maddy was absolutely fantastic w/ her poise and preparation, and she gave me some excellent examples to use as I lectured to my students on how to include supporting materials in their speeches. She presented her seven-minute informative speech about car accidents to my three classes and set the bar, raised the gauntlet for my students to follow. They were both shocked at how well this 13-year-old could give a speech and dismayed at how they would have much work ahead of them to come close to equaling her.
Anyway, what I really wanted to talk about tonight is the wonderful day I got to spend w/ my daughter. I took her out for lunch, the least I could do in lieu of a speaker's fee. When we returned from lunch, we walked up the long sidewalk from the parking lot to the college door in a manner similar to how Mom and I used to walk when we were being silly. I tried to walk in-step w/ Maddy while she tried to get out-of-step w/ me. The result is a lot of skipping, shuffling, and uproarious laughter. Anywhere Mom and I would walk, we'd play this game until we were oblivious of the blocks we'd covered and sad when our destination was reached. I hope someday Maddy will walk this way w/ her child and will think of me and the day she came to work w/ me to give speeches.
No comments:
Post a Comment