attention

Each day when Aimee comes home from school, I take her folder out and go through item in it.  I like to see what she is getting right and wrong, and what things she is currently learning.  When I saw this one come home I was a little confused.  It didn't really fit into a category.  In fact it was sort of a grandma-tree-mash-up, and none of the writing was from Aimee.  When I asked Aimee what it was, this is the gist of what she told me:

"I was in the hall at school, and I saw Mrs. Downer (the school psychologist) so I pretended I was sad.  She saw me and asked why I was sad, so I told her it was because my grandma died.  She told me that we should talk about it later.  She came and got me from my class after lunch and took me to her office.  She told me to draw some of my favorite memories of my grandma."
At this point I was somewhere between being annoyed that the woman didn't consult me about the situation, worried that the school thought I was a neglectful parent of my child's emotional needs, and irritated that Aimee would fake sad for attention, all while I was laughing on the inside.  Never mind that the things she drew on the leaves were a mix of things that I had told her about her Grandma Williams, and the things she had actually done with my mom.  Aimee just wanted to try the whole counselor experience out on someone who fed into her dramatic flare.  Plus she got to draw instead of do class work.  I'm pretty sure it was a win for her! 
We had to have a chat about why it was dishonest, and a number of other reasons not to do that.  That girl is something else!