We arrived at the school parking lot this morning to accept our sentencing. Posted on the front wall of the school was Hanna’s class assignment for the year and like all kids and parents, we jockeyed for position in front of the lists, first scouring to find our child’s name, followed by the teacher and next to identify any recognizable friends, then known trouble makers. For some reason, the class assignments never seem good enough, thoroughly planned or acceptable to any of the parents or kids upon arrival.

There are never quite enough “best friends” in your child’s class to seem fair.

If the “Time Out King” is on your list, you immediately assume your class is heavily weighted towards bad asses, tattoo artists and pot smokers.

If Brainy-Smurf is in your class does this mean your child is also bright and they’ve grouped like minds with like or is it the contrast the school is after? Does the presence of Smarty-Pants mean someone to the left or right might not be familiar with their left or right?

The Athlete. Will math and computer time suffer because the teacher’s focus shifts to what the children are most inclined to be interested and achieve in?

When I was a kid we had cars and t.v. Ellie, but my school had just one class for each grade so we knew years in advance who our grade five teacher was going to be failing a maternity leave or nervous breakdown.

I asked Ellie if she had seen enough schoolyard drama for one day.

Ellie: You are correctly right Mom.