Way to go Jill!

So proud of our Jill. Please forgive me while I indulge myself in a little "Jill is amazing" talk.

This week she came home and told us about a great day in gym and with a test.

In gym they had a beep test. I guess they have to run lines, and this thing beeps, and the point is they end up doing it faster and faster until they can't keep up. When she did it this week she was the fastest girl, and 3rd fastest in her class. That is really something because when she was 3 and 4 and 5, and on until....well, for quite a while, we wondered if she would ever resemble any type of athlete. We put her in soccer when she was about 6 or 7 and it was a brutal experience. I'm not sure she even kicked the ball in a game. Seriously.

Then in about Grade 6 she decided she didn't want to do what girls do at recess....walk and talk. They played soccer. She doesn't play soccer this year, but she has really come into her own in sports and athleticism. Gym teachers talk to me about why she should try out for this team or that team. It is bizarre.

Then there is the academics. She has always done well, and she hardly puts in a lick of work. We sometimes have the conversation that goes something like, "you know, if you put in a bit of effort you would be a 90%+ kind of girl." ....which didn't really go too far because she figured honor roll was good enough. She has a friend who is really diligent about studying and this week they had a Humanities test. Jill's mid-term mark was threatening to boot her out of the honor roll, and we weren't very impressed with that - so she decided she would study with her friend. They went to the library after school for an hour before swim practice and made a study guide, then she reviewed it that night. She said when she was writing the exam she couldn't write the answers fast enough and the answers just spewed out of her pen.

We had a big talk about it later. I think we dispelled some of the myths of nerdiness concerns. If you ask me she is anything but nerdy. I told her that if she were to the amazing grades she is capable of one day she could go to University on a scholarship, and swim (and this was the clincher) and when you swim with a university they pay for it! You don't have to go with your parents who have relatives and friends in every city so that hotel costs can be avoided. You stay with the team, and you fly to meets that are far away! It was hilarious to see the wheels turning......I think she was finally converted. Time will tell I suppose!!

That being said, honor roll, or no honor roll, beep test and athletic skills aside, we think she is amazing!