“Shhh...No Talking!”
 

Have you ever had that one time when you knew you were doing something bad, but you still did it anyways?  Do you ever make mistakes and then are scared to tell your parents because you know that they are going to yell at you?  Or even take one of your favorite things away.  Think back to the first time this happened to you.  If you can remember, let me guess it is pretty embarrassing.  However, mine is too.
Way back when I was in first grade, things started out on a good note, but that slowly started to disappear.  I lucked out to be with most of my good friends in class, but the teacher was not thinking the same way.  I was probably about three months into the year when it all started to go wrong for the teachers and me.  Everyday, the class would come to the floor for a read aloud.  About three out of the five days of reading, my teacher read us the same book series, “Frog and Toad are Friends”,  by Arnold Lobel.  Not only did we get to come to the front, but we also got to pick our seats the majority of the time.  Nevertheless, my teacher caught on, and it came to an end fast.
Assigned seats really stink, but in  the end you can’t do anything about them.  Think back to the time when your teacher put you next to that one person you really didn’t want to sit by.  Or think about the time your teacher put you by yourself, and you’re trying to figure out why he or she did that.  Especially if you are a person who doesn’t talk a lot.  Ever since my teacher caught me talking while she was talking, she made me sit in the back row.  By myself!
I made it seem pretty bad, but when I was little I tried to make the best of it.  I surprisingly got seated right behind one of my best friends that I still have today.  Although it seems like I would have learned my lesson right then and there, but I didn’t.
Have you ever heard the saying, “Three strikes, you’re out?”  Well that’s similar to the way things went in my first grade class room.  My teacher had officially had enough with me. 
“Grace! See me before recess, you owe me five!”  said my first grade teacher. 
I then realized I had gone too far, and recess came around faster than I thought it would.  There I sat at my desk with my head bowed down.  I was most afraid of going home to see my mom yell at me for bad behavior, mainly with my friends.  Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, my teacher had walked over to my desk and handed me a piece of paper and a pencil.  It hit me; I had to write a letter to my parents and there was no way of hiding this secret now.  I wrote my short paragraph and put it away in my folder, hoping I would have had time to maybe go outside.  However, my hopes were higher than what actually happened.  Everyone came in and there was only about ten minutes left of the day.  I heard the bell ring and lingered on over to our after school program, the YMCA.  I found my sister, who happened to be sitting in the corner, and parked next to her. 
Have you ever had a time when you didn’t want to tell anybody about something bad that you took part in, but you know you should have? 
It was time I had to share the news with at least my sister because if I didn’t, she was going to find out some how.  (Probably when I was going to get yelled at and grounded. She would be sitting somewhere upstairs laughing at me because that’s what older siblings do to their younger ones.  Especially my sister.)  After I had told her, I couldn’t believe it.  My sister had told me to LIE about what had happened and to change my response I had to take home to show my parents!  It was the first time I had actually gave in and lied to someone.  I was so gullible that I actually listened to my sister and did it.  I quickly changed my response before my dad came and I put it back in my backpack. 
We all have those times when we forget to do things, but what would you have done when you were little and forgot to have your parents sign something? 
At the time, I didn’t really have any options, so I went to talk to my sister.  Just after I told her, she went in my backpack, grabbed the piece of paper and signed it for me.  Later that morning I went to turn it in and my teacher actually accepted it!  I was astonished.
What comes around goes around though, and in about a week or two when my mom ran into  my teacher without me, she found out.  Right when she got home, I got yelled at.  After I got yelled at, my mom took away something you probably wouldn’t think of. 
Since I had no electronics and no play dates with friends that weekend, she couldn’t take those away.  I was a kid who didn’t really like to go outside so my mom didn’t really think that would teach me my lesson.  Therefore, she was left with taking away my favorite food, which was a pear.  For a week, I couldn’t eat a pear for any meals.  Although it seems quite strange, I thought my life would be ruined.
From that day on , I learned to not lie when something bad happens.  If I did, my parents would eventually find out.