Future Actor?

                   

I have a new child on my caseload, and he's a scream! Each morning I go check on him, and today he had me laughing my head off. His teacher gives him a daily 1-10 behavior rating, and he's moved from a 3 to a consistent 8 in about 10 days, which I think is impressive! He has set a goal for himself to earn a 10, which is the highest score, even though I've told him that an 8 is fine. I said that I doubt I'd ever go above an 8 with my own behavior. Disagreeing, he held up two fists and started flashing all 10 fingers in the air. When I asked what he was doing, he said that he was giving me the score he thought my behavior deserved, and that it would take him a while because it would be a million. "That's absolutely not true," I said. "Just ask my husband. He'd give me a zero sometimes!" The curly-haired boy flashed a grin and said, "Yep, my sister would give me a -1. I'm all gross and rumpled when I wake up in the morning. My hair's all tangled up, and my breath smells horrible. When I get close to my sister, she says, 'Ooh, get away, get away!' and slaps her hand at me. She's 12 and she's such a fashionista!" The whole while he was telling this story, he was acting it out, going from demonstrating his squinty-eyed sleepy look to his sister's outraged hand-swatting to her diva look, complete with a model's pose. Needless to say, this second grader has personality plus, and I already look forward to our early morning check-ins. I also regret the fact that he wasn't referred to me sooner, as next year he'll be at our sister intermediate school. Some kids just bring an extra jolt of joy to my life!