Wednesday night Gavin and I prepared for what was the most exciting happening at school so far.... he was the next day's VIP! He had a special sharing bag in his backpack containing the special instructions. Bring something to share that begins with the letter i... seriously. Every other kid is bringing transformers and we had to find something that begins with i and something that is meaningful to Gavin.
After much consultation with colleagues at work, I decided to send the insect book and some plastic insects, as well as a book all about the letter i. This book is quite special. We keep it in the trailer so that any bugs found can be recorded, checked and marked with the place and time of finding. Gavin loves this book! It was special to him.
That night, Gavin couldn't get to sleep. He continually sang the VIP song. "He's the V-I-P. He's the V-I-P. He's a very important person. He's a very important person. That's me!" It was too cute.
To kick it off... he had to wear a costume for the school's Halloween parade that day as well. I knew it was too much... a recipe for disaster.
He came home. He was happy but reported that Mrs. R had actually forgotten about the VIP until just before the bus. Really. It broke our hearts but he seemed okay. We still made a huge deal of it all!
As a teacher, I knew those moments were special to kids but I had no idea how much. Being a parent gives a whole new perspecive to education. That day, being the VIP, was the most important thing to him. He couldn't tell me one other thing about that day. It may have been shorter lived than normal and a little more rushed but that sharing was the highlight of his little four year old life. It's a lesson learned. Take time. Slow down. Enjoy the little moments.
Just thinkin'...
