He's a Winner!!

Yes, all parents think their dwarfs are winners !!!  While this dwarf has only made a few appearances in my blog in the last years,  Happy is still alive and well and leaving his fingerprint on the world!!  (Not just my windows and my peanut butter eggs !!)   I would be remiss if I let this moment pass by without acknowledgement and to take the time to brag about the dwarf that has a overcome much in his life, and has been bestowed a great honor!

For many of us, this may not be a big deal.  But for Happy, who upon receiving notification of his award, carried this pamphlet, which proudly also displays his name, around for two days, as he giggled and talked about "flying home" to receive his award at the Governor's Mansion in PA, it is!   While I know that he is unable to process the cost associated with such a trip, he took the news of not being able to be there for the ceremony well, and still smiles at the mention of the award!

What he does not know, is  in the midst of communication with the administrator for the Special Driver's Programs at PENNDOT, is that she is going to forward the poster, the award, and all the important items that go with the ceremony, to us after the event on October 22nd.  When we get the "package" we are going to make sure that we celebrate this in a big way for him.   I already have pinned a bus cake, and stop sign name tags... and if it were not for the many miles separating us from family and friends, I would be holding a big ol party!!

Instead I have contacted his new life skills teacher, and asked if she would allow him a special "show and tell" about his project that lead to the award.  Not so that he can brag about what he has accomplished, but so he can learn to use some new life skills, talking in front of a group, articulating the process of the contest, and the steps that lead to making the poster, and then the excitement and celebration that was bestowed upon him in light of the honor. 

There were 679 posters submitted last year to the Bus Safety Poster Contest.  He won 2nd place in his division amidst all those entries!!    Happy has never won anything (that I am aware of ) in his 16, (Monday he turns 17) years of life.   For him, this is HUGE !  For us this is HUGE  because it is huge for Happy!

Please know this.  Life is about the victories.  It is about celebrating the things that are important to each of the dwarfs individually.  As a mom of many, it is my job to save, savor, and celebrate ALL of life's accomplishments for each of them, archive the specific items and save them each dwarf until they can determine on their own if it is important to them or not.

Ask Doc if you see her, she has a stock pile of "childhood treasures".  When she was preparing to move to meet us in our new home state, she called to tell me that she was stuck in the land of the past.  Who keeps birthday cards from every birthday and catalogs the gifts given by each attendee on the back of the card?  This mom!   Who keeps the child saftey fingerprint and DNA sample kit, long after her kids are grown adults?  This mom!  How about an American Doll, with her complete matching doll and kid clothing?  This mom!   What about that 2nd grade "quilt project", of all of her favorite( and mine,) of her clothing, from birth that I turned into a quilt? This mom! 

Here's why. I have no idea in the moment, what memory is going to resonate long term with each dwarf.  Something that is a big deal to me, may not be to them.  So what is the worst that can happen to all this stuff?  They toss the items they feel are insignificant when these items becomes their property!  What happens if I determine that the events that  happened, were or were not important or significant to them and haphazardly tossed those things that I think were not relevant?  As they transition from childhood to adulthood, what if they are looking for a specific memory, and it was just a small thing that I thought was insignificant?  I would rather err on the side of caution.  Does it make me a bit of a pack rat... yes especially since there are seven of them!  But as technology advances so do my practical ways for archiving special times!!  Thank goodness! 

Regardless, if at the end of it all, in 15 years or 30 years, Happy still thinks this is a big deal, then he can savor the memories and mementos. If not, he can toss them, it is his decision.  For right now, it is a big moment.  So we will celebrate!  In the only way we know how!   The motto of this Kingdom, Go Big or Go Home!  

Sometimes, you want the actual memories,  You don't want to make this stuff up!!!