Sometimes my children amaze me. Sometimes, after they amaze me, I am harsh with myself and wonder why I underestimated them. Today is not one of those times. Kat amazed me by actually getting the paperwork for her work permit in and I have no doubt why I thought she might not to do.

First, Kat hates paperwork. Kat has not yet figured out that the rest of us are not fond of it either and that we just do it anyway. She seems to think that some of us, like me, have a gift for paperwork and paperwork just should not be expected from creative people like her because, after all, it is mind-numbing.

Second, Kat tries not to let anyone know that she actually can do the paperwork. Kat invokes what my father would call creative incompetence. �What name do they want here where it says �last name?�� she might ask or �Would Dr. H�s phone number really be in your address book?� (Yes, or in the address book in my cell phone. For that matter, I could just tell it to you if you want. I�ve had it memorized for almost 17 years now.)

Third, Kat cannot keep items organized. I gave her the social security card, birth certificate, letter from her employer, and letter from me in a paper clip and then in a folder. I then realized that I forgot to make sure she had $5 so I handed her a $5 bill just to be certain she had it. I told her to put it in the folder. Sure enough, this morning after she rushed out because she almost missed the bus, I found the $5 on the floor. I had no particular faith that she had the rest of the paperwork.

Fourth, Kat needed to go to the principal�s office to get the permit. She is a junior in high school and she has attended the same school for the last three years. Nevertheless, she claimed a complete lack of knowledge about where it was. I humored her and described its location but how could I possibly expect her to find it when I could not remember the exact room number.

So now we have one set of paperwork completed and her community internship paperwork left to go. Let�s hope she can amaze me again---before I so lose my mind that nothing will amaze me.

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