Perfectionist overachiever

Ethan came home yesterday with his progress report — what the school sends out with grades in the quarters we don’t get a “real” report card. Ethan was very proud because he had straight As. (We were too, for the record.)

I’m not sure how they got on the subject, but Ethan told John that he was only going to be getting As from now on (he has gotten two Bs since they started giving grades). Nothing else would be acceptable. John told him there was nothing wrong with getting a B — he even read to Ethan what a B grade means — Ethan didn’t care. He only wants As.

John then had to point out that if his goal is As, he was going to have to stop fighting us whenever we tell him he hasn’t put enough effort into a project or piece of homework. Doing the bare minimum won’t give him A work. Ethan said he would (stop fighting that is). 

I hope so. I’m not so concerned about the grades (as long as he’s doing his best), but an end to the constant battles over projects would sure be nice.