A week ago, we got two copies of this letter in sealed envelopes from Simon's take-home folder. Since I'm still off work, it was easy enough for me to go (but I kept the secret and didn't tell the kids I would be there).
I had no idea what to expect. I got there early, and checked into the main office, along with a lot of other parents. Then we went down to the gym where they had chairs set up on both sides for the adults. Little by little, the classes started filing in and filling up the floor. When Simon saw me, he just had a blank stare, like his little brain couldn't comprehend what was even happening, let alone why I was there. When Alice saw me, she smiled and waved.
Here is a video of what a gym full of K-2nd graders looks like. In the screen shot below, you can see Alice walking in with her pink shirt and blond ponytail. Simon is located in the very front on the left hand side. Look for the bright green on the hood of his jacket.
After all the kids came in, they started the assembly, with the MC explaining the significance of the award. Then a teacher from each grade level announced the recipients of the award.
Conveniently, Simon's teacher, Ms. Liso, was the one to announce the winners for kindergarten. I wasn't sure what Simon would do when his name was called, and I am still amazed he walked on stage and didn't freak out (as he did at every daycare program ever).
Simon suddenly seems a bit short, doesn't he? These other kindergartners are giants!
Then, surprisingly, Simon also won the award for being the best bus rider on his route. I wasn't expecting his name to be called again, so I didn't get a video, but now it made sense why they sent us two letters--one was for each award.
After the assembly, once the classes had filed back out, they called all the award-winning kids from each grade level to come on stage so the parents could get a better picture. Here is where Simon freaked out a bit. I don't think he knew what was going on and he kind of panicked and seemed a bit lost. I found him and helped him get on stage, but his lower lip was trembling. It took a minute for me to extricate my hand from his so I could get out of the picture, but he eventually let go and gave a tepid smile for all the camera phones aimed at the lineup.
We're proud of our little guy for winning two awards right out of the gate, but we remain humble and don't take full credit for his good behavior. We know it's just Simon's nature and not really our doing, in the same way that we don't take full responsibility for our other child's inherent nature that so far, has not produced award-winning behavior.
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*In the Shogren family, anytime anybody gets any award, especially the more meaningless it is, we call it a Major Award. My dad would get lots of Major Awards from his company's incentive programs over the years (little plaques and other paraphernalia with the company's logo on them) and in a self-deprecating way, they were always referred to as Major Awards. It is a reference to this scene from A Christmas Story:
