Millie worked her tail off prepping for the 3rd grade spelling bee this year and I was bound and determined to go since I accidentally missed it last year and she won last year. I knew it was important to her that I go. In the end, she went out on an easy word that I know she knows and she knows she knows – the word was threw and she spelled throw. It was just a goofy mistake, but one that devastated her. I could see the disappointment well up in her eyes and color her cheeks and my heart just wanted to whisk her out of the room and save her from a future of disappointing spelling bees. When the round ended she walked over to the other side of the room and I…waited. Unsure if she needed to be alone or needed a shoulder. None of the other moms were there and none of the other kids seemed to be taking defeat personally. Nope, that’s a trait reserved for a special few…ahem.

Five minutes later, though, I scooted my way over to her and just popped my arm around her. I whispered to her that I knew she could spell threw and many other much more difficult words and this moment in time would pass and not mean much later. I told her I was proud of her for working so hard to prepare and that she was a spelling champ in my book. I then asked if I was embarrassing her by sitting there. She said no, so I just stayed put and together we watched the rest of the spelling bee.