Outstanding effort, kindness, and citizenship...

So, Ilaiasi had his Kindergarten "graduation" ceremony last Friday and since I have volleyball during the last period of my day, I was able to attend. I am so glad I did! After all of the kindergarteners tromped across the stage to receive their graduation certificates, the principal, Mrs. Kenjura, got up and made a big speech about how all the boys and girls should be proud of their accomplishments, and that she now had a couple of special awards to hand out, but that it was ok that each child wasn't going to receive one of these awards -- I think she was mostly preparing us as parents for the inevitable tears and disappointment our little ones might experience at not receiving a "special medal." Anywhooo...she proceeded to talk about how the award she was giving out, the Principal's Award, was intended to go to the 2 students who consistently demonstrated outstanding effort, kindness, and citizenship throughout the school year. She said that at the Kindergarten level, she really emphasizes kindness and had asked each of the teachers to choose a student who best demonstrated this quality when interacting with their peers. Of course, after receiving notes indicating that Ilaiasi had been involved in activities like "scissor fights" during the school year, I had no expectations of him receiving this award. However, much to my surprise and delight, Ilaiasi WAS the recipient! In addition, the principal came up to me afterwards and said such nice things about my son. Let me tell ya -- I am SO blessed to have such a good, sweet little boy. And it is definitely NOT the result of my stellar parenting by any stretch of the imagination...he just came out this way! What a great kid!

When I spoke to Sunny about this, she reminded me of a funny story that pretty much sums up my sweet kid:

Ilaiasi came home from school one day and as soon as he got into the car he said, "Oh, Mommy...this was a VERY bad day!"
Me: "Oh no, what happened?"
Ilaiasi: "Well, you know my buddy Conner? Well...at lunch, he thought he just tooted, but really, HE POOPED IN HIS PANTS!"
Me: (trying VERY hard to keep from cracking up) "Oh, dear...how do you know?"
Ilaiasi: "Well, he had to go to the nurse, and when he came back, his pants and his underwear were in a bag! And then, HE TOLD ME!"
Me: "Well, did you laugh when he told you that?"
Ilaiasi: (looking scandalized) "Oh, no, Mommy...that wouldn't be nice at all!"
Me: "Well, what did you do when he told you?"
Ilaiasi: "Oh....well, I just went like this: [made a very sympathetic face] 'AAAAWWWWWW'!"

Ahahahaha...I crack up every time I think about it, but it totally sums up the type of kid Ilaiasi is. He's my little sweetheart and I love him so much.

Funny Ilaiasi

Well, it's been almost a year since my last post, but my sister Sunny's recent blogging activities have inspired me to action. I feel like I've missed out on a whole year of funny Ilaiasi stories, and I thought I'd start by writing a few of them down. So, without further ado....here we go:

1. Just a bit of background before I begin this story. I've been very surprised over the years at the number of people who do not realize the diversity in my ethnic background; especially those who I assume know this information. So, as a preface to this story, I must make the disclosure that while my dad's family is Tongan and...let's just say "somewhat overly tan", my mom's family is Swedish and white as a blanket of new fallen snow. And it comes as no surprise that Ilaiasi has had questions from time to time regarding the difference in the color of his skin (super BROWN) and that of Grandma's and Grandpa's (white or pink...depending on season and amount of physical exertion). So, this information in mind, this is a conversation I had recently with my crazy, hilarious son.

As you may or may not know, we have baby #2 due to arrive in October. Upon discovering the exciting news, Ilaiasi told me,"Mommy, if it's a girl, we should name her Chloe. And if it's a boy, let's call him Max or Jack...because I know how to spell both of those names already!" Then, as a very generous afterthought, my monkey tells me, "But Mommy, you can pick the last name!" I, of course, had to explain to him that because the new baby will be part of our family, he/she will have the same last name as all of us. At this point, Ilaiasi made a comment that I thought was absolutely hysterical. With a totally confused, but completely sincere look on his face, he says, "But Mom...we're all brown! What if the baby comes out peach-ish white like Grandma and Grandpa?"

I love the way little minds think...he's such a goofy kid.