Kindness above all else

I went to the last award ceremony of the year for the boys' school, which happened to coincide with the last day of school. I was really hoping that Gabriel would make all A's for the last quarter so that he'd have done it all year. He did!  He received his quarterly certificate and then was called up for the all-year award. He was one of only three students in the entire school to receive this honor.   I was one proud mama!  The boy never complains about having to do homework and goes along with studying for tests several times.

A new award this year was for having no tardies all year. The only kid in pre-K or kindergarten to receive this prestigious award was my baby, Jojo.  But guess what?  He wasn't there. They had taken him back with the other kids in his class so he didn't get to go up on the stage to get his award. I was a little peeved by this because I think that once the kid gets a taste of the whole school giving them accolades, they want more.

The final award came up and I missed the explanation behind it. It was being awarded to one girl and one boy from each class. They announced Gabriel's name and I had to ask the mom next to me what it was for.  Her daughter Charlotte won the girl's award for his grade.  "For showing kindness and helpfulness to their fellow students all year long."  I was so surprised and proud I welled up.

Because it dawned on me that you can make good grades the whole time you're in school but that doesn't make you a nice person. Every day when they walk out the door I remind them to be kind and respectful to everyone. What a nice surprise to find out they might actually be listening to me!

The picture of Gabriel and Charlotte with their awards around their necks is a little sad. Charlotte should have received one of the No Tardies awards, but because of a mix up did not. In the pic she has obviously been crying. Gabriel is not smiling and is looking down, and I know the thing going through his head is "what did I just win an award for?"  But I explained it to him before he had to go back to his classroom and he seemed pretty proud. In our very small school I had parents of kids in
all different grades coming up to congratulate me afterwards. In the car on the way home I told him how proud his father and I were of the wonderful things he had accomplished this year. But that we were most proud of the kindness award.   That is everything.