My son graduated Kindergarten today.
It was an immensely important day in his life. Mine as well along with my wife.
The time passes by fast. Without going traveling down the age old trap of Nostalgia Highway, let me simply state for the record that if I had the power, I would lasso the earth and slow it down as it travels around the sun. Just a bit. Enough to allow us all to enjoy the best parts of life. And maybe do a CLICK with Adam Sandler remote control fast forward on the bad times.
I am proud of what my son Ayden and what he accomplished. He can read full sentences. He is asking about history! And on his image during the ceremony he told the crowd of near 900 parents and family that he wanted to be a scientist. Not a bad thing for a 6 year old who considers chicken nuggets and Cheerios first class food.
He also gave me a little hint as to the mechanism of how his brain works.
See, apparently since the beginning of the year, he and many others have been peeling off the paper on crayons and, since they were damaged goods, taking them home. Like the Johnny Cash song ONE PIECE AT A TIME about taking home parts of Chevys for a long enough time that he was able to actually build a car, Ayden and his classmates have seemingly been able to achieve a mighty fine collection of paperless crayons. Or as they call them, Naked Crayons.
The other night while coloring, he was staring at his stash. He looked at me, collected all of his ‘nakeds’ and put them into a sarin wrap bag. He decided, now that school is over, he is going to bring them back to his school and give them to his teacher.
I was a bit taken back.. On one hand I wanted to applaud his honesty and tell him DO IT DO IT! On the other hand I knew how his classmates may have responded, and perhaps even how it would make my wife and I look as parents!! We saw small crayons, maybe one or two at a time, coming home for an entire school year. Why wouldn’t we have asked more questions! Why did we shirk out on our duties as parents! What ARE WE RAISING!?
So I told him to use his heart and do what he wants to.
And if he returns the set of Naked, make sure he does it in privacy. Just in case.
Ayden and his classmates.. heading towards the fine date of 2029 ….in a blink of an eye.
Congratulations to EVERY class who graduated regardless of age. Space. Time. Or background. You’re all beautiful human beings.
Naked crayons and all.
