NCAA Tournament in Buffalo

For the past few weeks my 9-year-old son has been stressing about having to speak in front of his class. Each student had to memorize a story and retell it. Public speaking is one of my biggest fears and apparently, he got that trait, too.  I can talk into a microphone all day, but put me in front of a crowd of people and I sweat profusely. Well, only one armpit sweats, but that's an entirely different problem. Anyway, he lost sleep, got upset - literally worrying himself sick over this assignment. Well, today was the day.  He told me he was going to be brave and even if he wanted to cry - he wouldn't. I decided we would celebrate his accomplishment. So, I got tickets to the NCAA tournament in Buffalo this afternoon. I picked him up early from school and surprised him with tickets. He got in the car and told me, "I did it!" I didn't ask another question. It didn't matter how it went. He conquered his fear. Someone asked me if I was "allowed" to take him out of school to attend a basketball game. I consider it a field trip. He learned math by keeping score and how to keep time with the game clock. He worked on his communication skills by conversing with the people in the seats adjacent to us. Most importantly, he learned that sometimes you have to forget everything else and make memories with the people you love.  Oh, and that I am a pretty kick ass mom!