Half-day at school. I'm giving oral math assessments to second graders. These are little tiny quizzes, 4 minutes long. Winston comes up to me, takes a seat and the quiz begins.

Winston, I say, can you tell me the months of the year?....Good job! Can you name the seventh month?...Wow. Can you...Can you....Great!

The quiz is finished. Winston leans in toward me. "Guess what?" He whispers conspiratorially. "I'm going to my grandma's house today. I haven't been there in...two...months." His voice rises with quiet excitement. "And," he continues, "John's coming home with me today and his mom and my mom are talking about going to Pizza Hut!" Wow, I whisper back, you are so lucky!

He smiles and skips off to his chair.