"Does this count as a special occasion?" asks Ms 12.

The kid has just got Dux of her primary school, plus picked up Senior Girls Swimming Champion and a Distinction award. Ms 9, in Year 3, got a Academic Achievement Award and a special Library award.

So the first thing asked of us when the Presentation has finished and we go over for the 'I'm very proud of you' hugs and kisses is whether it qualifies for the official family "special occasion" soft drink-for-dinner celebration !!

I think so!

(Second thing she said was 'Should I be glad you don't wear lipstick?'... as I planted kiss upon kiss on her cheeks...)

So perhaps I should find something a bit more special than a mere bottle of raspberry lemonade! #1 is also receiving something - again - (got a letter advising us of such) at her high school presentation tomorrow.

Yes, two pretty chuffed parents here... and if I can't brag about it on my blog, where can I?!

Somehow, amidst the chaos that is this house, we are raising three pretty bright cookies. An accident of genetics, perhaps? Or a gong for chaotic parenting. All three so far, have been collecting academic achievement awards all through school. (I confess... their Dad got Dux of his primary school... and Nana (paternal grandmother) got Dux of her junior high school (before having to leave at age 15) so you don't need three guesses as to the source of the dominant gene!)

No pressure on #3 either... with #1 getting Dux of the same primary school three years earlier. I am glad for her sake that she has also been achieving academically from the beginning. Even though we would never put pressure on her, following in the shoes of two big sisters getting the peak academic award of their primary school is pretty daunting stuff.

I'm also aware (from my own experience... where I was always the 'bridesmaid and never the bride' but achieving near the top of my year all through school) that academic stuff isn't the be all and end all. (Just look at what I have achieved 'academically' with the rest of my life.... NOT.)

But meantime, champagne and fizzy drink and cake and chocolate just might be the order of the day... or even the week.

(And maybe we just might head out for a celebratory dinner tonight!)

Labels: kids