My 2nd grade teacher also did something similar... we had this massive 3 board blackboard that had to be 15 feet across at least?!?! and he would use all his different colored chalk to draw this HUGE scene for us... they were all masterpieces to me - i mean the depth of his vision!!! and he would put classical music on for us and we would just sit there for 20-3o minutes watching him create this intricate scene piece by piece - and then... we would write stories too! hehehe
so - thanks for that amazing memory!!
but... while reading your post... I went from being elated at your niece - and you - and both of your imaginations... and your teacher's ingenuity!!! to the overwhelming sadness you must have felt.
It breaks my heart to no end - to realize how many of these little "unnoticed" hurts have happened to children. I know parents dont' always realize they're doing it. and my gosh - I'm sure I've done it too. But still - it breaks my heart to see how one stray sentence can do such damage.
You put that A+ away...
this is terrible. and i'm so sorry that you felt that your achievement wasn't worth more to your mom. But I'm glad that YOU had that moment of pride that you still held onto! Even though the picture went away.
and i'm glad that another pirate came into your life, and stirred up some fun for you! hehehehe
(she's pretty grateful for you too - just in case you didn't know hahaha)
and wait til you see what I just pulled up from the internet. I'm sure it's not yours. hehehe but someone apparently had the same idea - because it's actually called "planters peanut pirate" hahahahahaha
enjoy!!!!
picture from here...