A 180

Marcus brought home a progress report this weekend and it was practically jaw dropping.  Is it straight A's.  Nope.  Honor Roll.  Nope.  But he is passing all his classes.  And he's doing really well in almost all of them.

This may not seem like a great achievement.  Lots of kids do pretty well in their classes.  Lots do really well in their classes.  But we're not talking about any kid.  We're talking about Marcus.

Nearly a year ago we were hitting a wall with Marcus.  He had zero interest in school.  None.  His grades were miserable.  His teachers couldn't get him to take things seriously.  He really just didn't care.

Have you ever tried to tell a teenager to take school seriously?  It's a bit like talking to a wall.  A wall that can roll its eyes.

Last winter, when we were at our wits end, we caught Marcus making some very foolish decisions.  As a result, we grounded him.  From everything.  For a long time.  And we lectured him.  About everything.  For a long time.

I don't know if that worked, or if it was something else, but I'm telling you, it's been a complete 180 with this kid.  And it's pretty damn amazing.

By the end of last year he just missed honor roll by one class by a few points.  We were flabbergasted.  He signed up for a college course at York County Community College.  We were speechless.  He found a job and has been actively helping out around the house more and watching his younger siblings more.

I'm not going to say that we're parents of the year or anything, but apparently something finally got through to him, and it's been pretty amazing.

So with a progress report with above average grades, positive teacher comments and even a report from his professor at YCCC of a B average, we couldn't be more proud!

And who wouldn't be happy to overhear this little conversation between two brothers:

"Marcus.  Marcus.  Will you play with me?"

"Sure Bud."

"ALRIGHT!  Let's GO!!"