Wanna Win Something?

All of us love to win things.  In seventh grade, a friend through childhood started playing clarinet in the band. Not something that had ever been on my radar, but it seemed she was having fun. I asked mom for a clarinet, which I knew very well we couldn't afford. But, mom being mom, she carried me to the music store and started the tedious process of being approved for credit to rent a clarinet.  Some of you young folks may not be impressed, but us older folks remember a world where credit was not so easily had. While we waited for her credit to be approved, we noticed a pad of entry forms for a musical instrument giveaway. And we started filling them out, one after another. Within a month, mother had gotten the phone call- We had won the Vito student clarinet.  I was super proud of that clarinet. Felt we had worked harder to win that clarinet than the one we'd gotten on credit.

Fast forward to a time when I'm juggling 5 or so kids.  The doorbell rings, and it's a Fed Ex man with an envelope.  (You know those envelopes that come USPS that say "you may be a winner"?  Those are junk mail. If you are a winner, the envelope says Fed Ex and you have to sign for it.) I was absolutely flabbergasted-  Seventh Generation company was telling me I had won a washing machine, just call this 800 number to schedule delivery.  And here's a case of laundry cleaner to go with it.  WHAT?  Now truth be told I'd only bought a new washer a few years prior, so I sold that winning washing machine to someone from church who needed a washer.  For a few moments, after it arrived all shiny new, I considered keeping it just so I could do 2 loads at a time.

Yesterday (in the USPS mail) my son got a big old envelope, one side clear, showing a certificate inside printed with his name and $30,000!!!!!!  Yeah, it looked akin to an old Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes mailer.  The thing is, it's not entirely a fake.  Yup, it was from a college who will in fact give him a $30,000 scholarship ($7500 each of 4 years) just because he was an American Legion Boys State delegate.

So, my homeschool and public school friends-  make sure that your kid knows about American Legion Boys and Girls State.  It's only open to kids who have completed their junior year and have at least one more semester left of school.  In most cases, all expenses have been paid by a sponsor of a local American Legion Post. And there are hundreds of scholarships available to kids who complete the week of Boys State/Girls State.  At any rate, your child will leave a changed kid.  He'll say things like "don't say that, it's combative. Express it in a more congenial way to persuade them to your point of view." This benefits younger siblings, too!  My 9th grader is getting more involved in leadership activities earlier on than his brother, and is paying better attention to his GPA, in hopes that *his* resumé will be more competitive for the scholarships than his brothers'.

And that right there, makes this mom feel like I've won something- kids who go after achievement and do hard things.