Pricey, but worth it.

I'll be hard pressed to get pictures of Rebekah on here, as she is in a hide-from-the-camera stage of life .... but here's what she's up to. She's a SUPER kid. Some days she thinks I'm an idiot, but mostly she likes me. As far as teenagers go, I think we're pretty lucky.

She has been really enjoying tennis, it helps that she thinks the coach is a riot. She'll keep up with lessons in the off-season, and says she wants to be on the team again next year. As soon as tennis finishes (and along with it the 2+ hour daily practices and games) she is gung-ho to join the history club.

She got a new mac-book, and our mac expert neighbor helped her to get it working perfectly (thanks Travis,) so she's loving that. The best part is she can watch movies on it in her room for sleep-over's, and we don't have to share the TV! The worst part is - she can watch movies on it in her room. However, as long as she's a minor and living in my house, she'll have to access the internet only through our family computer - which she understands.

She had her first session with her math tutor tonight. I'm really happy with who we have - her teacher from last year. I'm thrilled (1) because I think she's an amazing teacher and was really instrumental in getting Rebekah to love math and do so well last year (2) She knows the curriculum, and actually also taught the honors class last year, so she knows exactly what Rebekah missed, and (3) She knows Rebekah & Rebekah likes her. We are paying her the discounted rate (for students from her school) of $80 / hour. As far as I can tell, most tutors around here charge about $100 / hour! (I'm sure it's less in less expensive areas - you know, back West.) A lot of the teachers tutor. I'm glad, since we'll be benefiting from it, but it makes me sad to think that they need to supplement their income that way. A sad reflection on society and how little we value teachers (and might I extend that to nurses,) who get paid so little to perform a job that has such far reaching and crucial impact ....

OK, back to Bek. She is also keeping up our deal to practice piano an hour a day (in exchange for dropping her chorus class), and I'm hoping that will make a big difference in her progress, and confidence level on piano. She babysits just about every weekend, and is raking in the money (I often have to ask for a loan.) However, we have had her step up her rate of college savings since she blew a bunch of money on the mac-book, with frequent and ominous warnings that college is "only 5 years away."

So, overall I am surprised how busy & expensive it is to raise a teenager. Rick and I were talking about it the other night - how different it is to when we were kids. I just think this is what the world is like now, and what it requires. I hope our efforts help her get into a great college and give her a boost to a wonderful life - but more than anything I just hope she's happy. She really is wonderful, and I'm crazy about her.