More Spelling Bee

Well, Tuesday was the next level of Spelling Bee. It has taken me until today to feel I am somewhat over the trauma and can write about it. I am still not sure I am a fan or not.

This was the beginning, when we were still having fun. Brittany was amazing. She made it to the very last round, remember she is a fourth grader among fifth and sixth graders. They had given the kids a list of 300 really hard words which B had memorized. Backwards and forwards she knew those words. Then they got to the last round, down to about 25 kids and they needed 15. They had used up all 300 words so they started using words the kids had never studied. Hard words! The kids went down one after another. Including Brittany. They only had 8 kids so they went through the kids that missed again. And again. And again. It was so agonizing! Brittany got really hard words (epitaph, possessive and conciliatory). She also got more upset each time. It was probably one of the hardest things I have watch as her mom. Part of me wished I could be in her place, but not really because I would have missed them all! So the end of the story is that we won't be going on to the next level. It is hard and seems so unfair after all that work. But we are so proud of Brittany and the hard work she put in. We learned some lessons about things not always coming out the way we had hoped and worked for.
Next year, when they choose the kids from her class that get to participate I am sort of hoping she is absent. I think it took at least two years off my life watching!