Cookie Baker & House Cleaner

It seems like the end of the world for students who prepare so hard and long for contests like spelling bees and talent shows. They feel like they have failed. Someone needs to step up and give them some perspective. There are many things this child will potentially grow to offer other than nearly perfect spelling.
In my youth, I had a lot of friends and acquaintances who were very musically talented. I was definitely a wannabe in this area. After being placed on the risers for our upcoming chorus concert between two sisters who actually sang on The Lawrence Welk Show, I felt humiliated. I cried to my mother that I was "nothing but a cookie baker and a house cleaner."
Several years later, I learned to appreciate my talent as a cookie baker. The house cleaning? Well, it's a necessity when you share space. Anyway at 19, I was in charge of dividing the ingredients of a recipe for a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies among two tables of kids before they woke up from their nap. The childcare workers I worked with were flabbergasted at the math involved in the preparation. Being a good cookie baker was not so bad after all! My husband can attest to that today.
The moral of this story is to appreciate the talents you have developed. Develop the ones you truly want to develop and do not judge yourself by the talents of others.