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.