Day 3: Perfect Saturday

I stayed up pretty late on Friday night, but I still managed to get up and read and study and still be on time.  Dallin and Brandon were great to make lunches, remove car seats, pull up driving directions, and other odd but important jobs.  We left early in the morning, but it was already proving to be a nearly perfect autumn day.  It was wonderfully warm and beautifully colorful and clear.

It was the first Speech and Debate tournament of the year.  As I nearly filled my big van to capacity with youth, the feeling in the car was one of nervous excitement.
These kids have been doing things together for years.  They are comfortable with each other.  They tease each other, but mostly they encourage and mentor and lift each other.

How would they do?  Would they have their speeches memorized?  Would the first years be able to handle the pressure of their event?

It was at BYU, so the trip wasn't super long and I was absorbed in conversation with the other mom who came along to judge.  It was a very thought-provoking conversation.   We continued it through orientation and the prep period for my first event: Extemporaneous.  The kids had 30 minutes to prepare a memorized speech on a topic given at the beginning of the round.  None of our kids were in my room, but it was interesting.

The next round I had free, so I went to find Brandon to see how he was doing.  I was extremely nervous for him.  This was his first time doing Oratory:  a 7-10 minute memorized speech on a subject of his choice.  I had worked with him on his speech 10 days before and he was pretty much in a state of despair.  He had worked very hard and long on it, but it was just not good enough.  I gave pointers and pep talked and he was gracious and tried to have a better attitude, but I could tell he felt utterly miserable about it.  "There is no way I can finish this and have it memorized in time for the tournament."

His attitude completely changed after he had a chance to go over it with his teacher.  Bless you,  Mr. Martineau. But I hadn't read it or listened to it since the day I tried to help him.  I had heard him frantically trying to memorize his speech in his room the day before and even that morning.  I asked him if it would make him nervous if I listened, and he calmly told me "no".  He had already done it once, so I was really curious about his calm, positive attitude.  But I was still nervous. 

The first to go was Joseph from our co-op.  He is a couple of years ahead of Brandon in speech, and his speech was amazing.  After a few more speeches that I don't really remember, Brandon got up.  He calmly walked to the front of the room.  He stood there all handsome in his gray suit.  The judge asked him how old he was and was surprised at his youth.  Then he began. 
The words just flowed.  His speech was good, his delivery was good, his memorization was good!  He did great!  One of the best in the room for that round.  He did it! 

Two more rounds after a quick lunch.  During one  I judged oratory and most of the participants were disqualified for speeches that were too short or not memorized.  I began to think that Brandon might have a chance to be recognized that day. 

I was one of the first people in the auditorium after round 4.  I tried to read, but fell asleep.  When I woke, the room was nearly full and noisy with the hum of expectant participants.  Was that Nathan I just saw?  Yes!  Dallin had brought the kids in for the closing ceremony.  It was fun to see their grins and snuggle and nurse the baby before they started announcing the awards. 

The teacher announced the top half of each category, about 5 people at a time.  Oratory is usually announced last.  I thought for sure Brandon would make it in the top half and get his name read.  This had never happened to him before.  But when they didn't read his name in the first batch, my hopes fell a bit.  Oratory is generally pretty competitive and they had nearly 40 participants.  When he was getting to the end of the second batch, I wasn't surprised to hear Adrianna's name announced.  I had heard her give a speech at the last tournament last year, and it was amazing.  But I WAS surprised to hear the announcement that she tied for 8th place with.....Brandon!!!!

Now I'm crying about it.  I was too excited then.  That pretty much sealed the fate for the rest of the day.  But now I'm teared up because I'm thinking about my baby boy that the Spirit told me was not going to fit into the public school system.  I'm thinking about the kid who brought me the animal encyclopedia when he was 4 and told me he wanted to learn to read.  The kid who learned the letters and sounds and words over and over and over again, but it just wouldn't click.  The kid who started reading the scriptures because he heard a story about a boy who learned to read that way.  Who realized that he would have to read them out loud if he wanted to get anything out of them.  Who struggled and struggled and struggled with writing.  Who felt like he wasn't cut out for this Speech and Debate thing, but kept at it because of an inspiring teacher.  Whose mother marked success by progress rather than grade levels or benchmarks and trusted that if she kept his self worth intact, it would come.  It came.
It means an awful lot to both of us, that tie for 8th place.

Dallin and Nathan and everyone was there to share in the excitement.  Nathan had an event at BYU that evening, so we split up, agreeing to meet at home in about an hour.  A couple of the kids brought gas money which provided the much wished-for pizza night we've been craving for awhile.  Dallin was ordered to get pizza and ice cream while I worked on getting the kids back to their parents. 

The energy in the car was slightly different than on the way there.  Everyone was talking at once, reading comments from the judges.  Trying to be humble about winning 3rd or 2nd place.  Giving each other pointers, joking, laughing.  It was a feeling of relief and celebration! 

My friend couldn't get ahold of her husband to come pick her and her son up from my house.  They didn't live too far away, so I said I'd take them.  Then I got a call that our star-gazing party with another home school group was happening right then.  We had been looking forward to that for weeks and weeks, having it cancelled several times due to cloudy weather.  Dallin wasn't even home yet, but I piled a bunch of warm stuff in the car and waited for him.  I was SO THANKFUL that he had pizza we could take and eat there.  It just happened to be in the same neighborhood as my friend who needed a ride, so that was quite convenient. 

So we went to the top of a mountain and looked at stars.  We looked at galaxies, even!  Our veteran homeschool friends had telescopes and a wealth of knowledge that made it very interesting and exciting.  Being at a park up in the woods at night with glow sticks was an exciting adventure for the little ones.  We weren't there for very long, though it seemed late when we got home.  And we still had to eat the ice cream to celebrate Brandon's triumph! 

Little ones were more than happy to go right to bed after that.
But the big kids were still buzzing with excitement.  They and Dallin showed me the "new" treadmill and bookcases handed down from the neighbors.  That got us thinking about how to arrange the books now that we have room for them all, and then some fun summaries by me about some of my favorites.  I do love books. 

Next thing I knew, I was on my way up to bed and saw the 4 oldest kids snuggled together on the couch, just STARTING a movie. 
But it had been so long since I'd seen them all snuggled up enjoying each other that way...
I walked right by with a smile and a word of encouragement, and I might have given a slight correction to my husband for shedding some "go to bed" wisdom as he walked through. 

I tried to stay awake to watch an episode of Kung Fu with Dallin, but I didn't make it. 

But as I closed my eyes, I felt a deep sense of contentment.  My tummy was nice and full of comfort foods, my bed was warm, my husband loved me, my kids loved each other, I knew some new stars and constellations, and Brandon placed 8th at the tournament. 

Satisfaction.

Days to be lived over again.

...