A couple of days ago my daughter received an Earth Day assignment: On Friday bring to school a blue plastic bag full of recyclables. Upon her arrival, she was promised, someone would take the bag from her and exchange it for a token to hand her science teacher. That token would count for a "100" in the grade book.

As we approached the school, our girl noticed nobody else was carrying a blue bag.

"Mom," she asked, trepidation in her voice, "what if I'm the only one?" Translation: "I'll die of embarrassment! I'll feel like a nerd! I can't possibly be a nonconformist!!!!"

"You'll get a better grade than anybody else," I said, matter of factly. As soon as I uttered the words, I knew how braindead they sounded. Might as well plant a big, fat "L" on my forehead. Grades at the expense of nerdiness? Sheesh.

As we approached the drop-off point, she saw a small crowd of bagless students standing around. At first that made her more self-conscious. She would have to walk past them lugging five pounds of humiliation.

But then, suddenly, a transformation took place. She sat up a little straighter and, with hope rising in her voice, asked, "Do you think...maybe...they're waiting for someone to show up with a bag?"

"I do," I said.

Sure enough, next thing we knew, Earth Day paparazzi surrounded the car and, like crazed fans, pounded on it with open palms until she emerged with the poise of a movie star, bag in hand. One lucky soul got to be the one to whom she handed the blue bulk, and the rest thrust tokens at her, each student seeming to hope he or she would get to be the one from whom the Earth Day V.I.P. would grasp that slip of paper.

Did you know I'm the mother of a celebrity? We've always known she had it in her. Not surprised at all, really. From the moment of her arrival, we've known she was special....