The Fridge
There’s nothing out of the ordinary about the inside of my fridge. It serves its purpose, keeping stuff cold or frozen and serving out ice cubes and water like a champ to four thirsty kids.
The outside of the fridge is the family hub, where the bright colored magnets secure calendars, photos, and invitations. When the kids began to draw, these were shoved to the side as art projects, school work, and report cards competed for the center spot. Each week, I clear off it off and make way for new masterpieces found in the backpacks. The kids love to see what I choose to display. And so it has gone on for years.
As the kids move through the grades in school, fewer papers come home in their backpacks. So the fridge continues to be full of elementary papers, and rarely something from middle school or beyond.
Just the other day, I looked over at the fridge and there, front and center, was a calculus test proudly hanging in the prime spot of honor, shining like a lighthouse on a dark, stormy night.
I stopped and stared. My oldest son’s work hadn’t been on the fridge in years and for the first time; I was not the person who hung the school work.
I realized at that moment that the fridge display was not just mom hanging up a few random papers, it was a showcase of best work. The test score was the culmination of a semester’s worth of study and sacrifice. He had prepared long and hard for that test. He feverishly worked extra problems each night, met with the teacher before school for extra help, worked with a tutor, and had a dry erase board full of calculations that would have made Newton and Leibniz proud. All of that was summed up in one test hanging happily on the fridge for all to see.
My ordinary fridge really is quite extraordinary.
The outside of the fridge is the family hub, where the bright colored magnets secure calendars, photos, and invitations. When the kids began to draw, these were shoved to the side as art projects, school work, and report cards competed for the center spot. Each week, I clear off it off and make way for new masterpieces found in the backpacks. The kids love to see what I choose to display. And so it has gone on for years.
As the kids move through the grades in school, fewer papers come home in their backpacks. So the fridge continues to be full of elementary papers, and rarely something from middle school or beyond.
Just the other day, I looked over at the fridge and there, front and center, was a calculus test proudly hanging in the prime spot of honor, shining like a lighthouse on a dark, stormy night.
I stopped and stared. My oldest son’s work hadn’t been on the fridge in years and for the first time; I was not the person who hung the school work.
I realized at that moment that the fridge display was not just mom hanging up a few random papers, it was a showcase of best work. The test score was the culmination of a semester’s worth of study and sacrifice. He had prepared long and hard for that test. He feverishly worked extra problems each night, met with the teacher before school for extra help, worked with a tutor, and had a dry erase board full of calculations that would have made Newton and Leibniz proud. All of that was summed up in one test hanging happily on the fridge for all to see.
My ordinary fridge really is quite extraordinary.
Ann,
ReplyDeleteI love this post! What an awesome moment! You are a great writer and I hope you keep writing amazing things like this! Fantastic! In my house growing up the fridge was always one of me and my siblings favorite spots to post our work! And even in college Ann our report card for the semester would go up there so with your oldest son off to college next year you will have to start adding that for him! He will love it! Awesome post!
Brent
Ann-This was a great post. I was just looking at my fridge the other day thinking I really need to clean it off. On my fridge is a spelling test of my daughter's, a coloring page of my son's, and a picture of my dad in Vietnam. I think I will leave it after reading your post. I look forward to reading more of your posts! Jeanette
ReplyDeleteit's the little things that count to kids. way to go! what a great feel-good post.
ReplyDelete