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After everyone left, Mom, Nana, and I checked out the network’s website. Sure enough, right there on the home page was a big picture of Mrs. Fleck, with the headline: “Local Mom Fights Back.”

Missy Fleck, 42, has always considered herself an excellent mother: passionate, hard-working, and extremely dedicated to her children. But suddenly parents like Mrs. Fleck, who shuttle their kids from activity to activity all week long, are under increased scrutiny. This is mostly due to Jack Strong, the middle school student who has gained a great deal of attention in the last week by deciding to go on strike until his parents lighten his own schedule. His motto, TAKE A STAND BY TAKING A SEAT, has become a rallying cry for overscheduled children. But now Mrs. Fleck, whose daughter goes to school with young Jack, has decided to fight back.

“Jack Strong may be sitting down,” Mrs. Fleck said in an interview earlier today, “but I need to stand up for hard-working kids and parents everywhere.”

My mom shook her head. “What is happening to the world?”

“This is what happens when you don’t let me skip soccer practice,” I said.

We kept reading. Sure enough, Mrs. Fleck had decided to hold her own rally right on my street, the night of the live broadcast. “We’re going to have music, games, a display of artwork, and much more, all performed and created by the kids,” Mrs. Fleck said in the article. “And all made possible by the many wonderful activities they attend and love.”

The rest of the article was all the predictable stuff about how Mrs. Fleck is doing all this because she’s a champion for children. Whatever. Basically I just skimmed it, until a paragraph at the end caught my eye.

And what do Mrs. Fleck’s own children think of this controversy? “She definitely loves us, and has our best interests at heart,” says daughter Lucy. “Working hard and doing all these things will help me get into a good college and have a better chance to succeed in life.”

Then Mrs. Fleck ended the interview, saying her young daughter was late for her chemistry tutor.

“Most kids don’t take chemistry until tenth grade,” she said, smiling proudly.

Aha! The real Mrs. Fleck pops up, if only for a minute.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Time to wash your hands for dinner,” said my mom.

Heading to the bathroom, I was a little wobbly as usual. The first steps when I got up were always weird, like I was just learning how to walk. My legs felt rubbery, and as I looked around, it seemed like I was really high off the ground.

Walking is a really strange thing to do when you only take about fifty steps a day.

In the bathroom, I looked at myself in the mirror. I still looked the same, but everything else about me was different. Last Monday I was just a regular kid trying to survive middle school. Now here I was, about to go on television while a crazy lady was throwing a party dedicated to tearing me down.

What a difference a week makes.