WARNING! Bragging Rights

WARNING!!
I have to brag for a bit. So if parents who brag about their kids make you gag, don't read on. 
I have good kids.  Both, completely different from one another but both equally good in their own way. 

Jordan has been swimming and loving the team and the team has taken her in like she has been a friend for life.  No judgement, no drama, no attitudes.  Just good kids having a great time as a team of swimmers.  As many issues as Jordan has not one of those girls seem to care and they include her in everything.  Her endorphins have kicked in and she is happier.  She swims 5 days a week.  We get up twice a week because she has to be at the pool by six.  That means we have to leave our house at 5:15 am and it's tough.  She swims 2 meets a week and the drive is a long one to Denver from here.  Tuesday I drove down to Denver to see the meet and I watched her swim the 50 fly.  It was awesome and she swam it well.  Her stroke was beautiful.  It was worth the drive.  She hasn't complained once about swimming.  I love that sport. 

Hannah has been busting her butt in school.  Last month she got off of her IEP which made her a special ed student.  I have said this before and I'll say it again.  GET RID OF STANDARDIZED TESTING!!  She scores low on those tests but is an excellent student.  Needless to say, she was ecstatic when she felt like she was not a "dumb" kid or a "sped".  Well, she was placed in a lower level reading and math class and was just bummed about it.  For a couple of weeks she has been asking me to set up an appointment with her teachers to discuss this.  Her thought process, with good reason, is that why did she work so hard in school to get off her IEP and now she's not seeing any benefits from it?  She kept thinking "why am I still in the sped classes?  Good point.  She called me at work and asked me if I had emailed school.  I'm telling you she is on it.  I asked her which teachers needed to be addressed and she told me.  Then she said, "Mom, before you set up an appointment let me tell you when I'm free".  Ha Ha. She's so organized but that's one thing I do know.  When she is free.  She cracks me up.  Anyway, I email and they explain why she is in the classes she's in, because of the standardized tests, and after they thought about her situation they moved her to a higher level class and the morning she was so upset, with these huge Cindy-Loo-Who tears streaming down her cheeks, she came home that same day a different kid with way more confidence knowing that she would be challenged. 
The cool thing about this is that she totally advocated for herself and made that change.  She works hard and it shows.  The teachers love her.  Especially her ski coaches.  One has told me that they have never seen a kid so excited all the time when she is on the mountain.  And it is contagious.  She loves every bit of winter and the cold.  Crazy. 

I've shed a lot of tears over the past 2 months because parenting has really given me a run for my money.  It's the hardest thing I have ever encountered.  This week has been a good one for my parenting confidence.