Our chicken is in Junior Kindergarten and brought home her first report card. She didn’t tell us of course, we found it on the floor, just outside the main bathroom. It’s clear EM had other things on her mind.

It’s not so much a report card, as a report folder. Parents are asked to return the signed report cover to school.

The school’s motto is: do your best through truth and courage. And, for a quick moment, our heart’s raced as we opened the front cover. We stared at the report card and read the comments aloud. Dev raced to call his mom. I’m now online.

• We learned that EM enjoys songs, stories and presentations.
• She can accurately describe how her pupil works, can follow directions in French and is a risk-taker in Mandarin (!)
• She is learning to sing in tune and keep a steady beat.

And on one occasion, informed her teacher Miss V: I can balance on one foot, and I am balanced because I eat all my vegetables. I am good at making the number four and want to get better at riding bikes.

Her favourite senses are smell and taste: I liked smelling and tasting because I liked making applesauce and tasting sweet things, but I don’t like tasting walls.

Our home may be filled with crayons, markers and sparkles; she’s attended art classes at the Victoria Art Gallery since she was 18 mos old. And we have had, on more than one occasion, a lengthy discussion about drawing on walls - but in class we learn that she rarely participates in craft sessions, responding with a polite “no thank you.”

The report card gives us a glimpse into our daughter’s world. This green folder, casually strewn on the floor, marks the beginning of her academic struggles and triumphs.

EM is now fast asleep. I am typing in the dark and reveling in the wonder of it all.