Report cards finally came out. You may remember I hadn’t seen any of Tommy’s grades other than a B on a practice test. So I was relieved when he got 4 As and a B, but I knew he would be disappointed in the B. I just didn’t realize how much.

“Wow, honey, that’s a great report card! Almost straight As — you really worked hard!”

“I didn’t even look at it. As soon as I opened the folder and saw stupid Honor Roll [straight As is Principal's Honor Roll, you see] I shut the folder and puched myself in the head.”

OK, I admit my first instinct was to laugh. Who punches themselves in the head in the middle of class? Oh, my kid. The same one who covered himself with the “towel of shame” after a less-than-stellar swim meet. The same one who cries when he strikes out in baseball. That kid. I really don’t understand why he puts so much pressure on himself; we’ve tried to make it clear that we’re proud of the effort, not necessarily the result. But he is wired to scorn less-than-perfect.

Maybe he will grow out of it. Or maybe I will be forever comforting my “shameful” son who only makes the “stupid” regular honor roll.