Not Quite

This morning posed a bit of a dilemma for my wife and me. There was a breakfast at my daughter's school thanking all the volunteers for their service and support during the school year. Both my wife and I have volunteered in my daughter's class and were invited to this breakfast. However; my son also had a function at his pre-school at the same time. I decided that it would be better to witness my son's function even though I was very interested and thankful for the breakfast.

My wife decided to go to the breakfast with my daughter and I decided to go see my son's recital. I am not sure if recital would be the proper term but I think it fit some what. My son's pre-school class were performing two songs in front of the entire grammar school. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate this morning. As we approach the month of June which is commonly known as "June Gloom" here in Southern California we had an early dose this morning. "June Gloom" means the clouds (some say smog but we are still far enough away from the bigger cities to have smog) hover around to early afternoon presenting a gloomy affect. This morning we had the gloomy affect accompanied by little drizzle right about the time my son's class were to take the stage for their recital.

Now the stage was outside because the performance was for the entire school and fitting the entire school (1,200 students) inside would have been rather uncomfortable not too mention a fire hazard as well. So the principal of the school decided to postpone the performance until next Friday. Unfortunately for me there is a very strong probability that I will be unable to attend this performance next Friday so I was a bit disappointed.

I had hoped to add another memorable moment to my memory bank but it didn't quite happen. I did have the fortune of watching my son interact at his pre-school for about 40 minutes as we waited for the decision on the recital. This was fascinating because my son whom I believed to be a strong follower did not display this characteristic. I am not sure I can categorize him as a leader because he seemed reluctant to take this role.

My son's pre-school is made up of 24 four and five year olds and my son is five so he is one of the oldest one's in the class. He is also one of the taller students in the class so he stands out height wise as well.

For some reason or another the other students have taken a real liking to him because as he entered the classroom everyday just like today there were at least six or seven fellow students who called out to him. I thought the students did this to everyone who entered the classroom but that was not the case as I stood in the classroom this morning. My son seems to be reluctant to take the leadership role because as the students called out to him he seemed to ignore them. I don't know if this is a shyness (because in all things he does he is NOT shy about anything) or an aloof characteristic. I know I have been called aloof many times in my life and I am trying my hardest to shed this bad character trait so I hope he this is just a phase for my son because after all he is only five years old.

One of the funnier moments came when a few girls where calling out to my son and wanted his attention. My son did everything in his power to ignore them and ensure the other boys in the class were fully aware he was ignoring the girls. There is nothing worse than a five year old boy acknowledging a girl!!!!

It was truly remarkable witnessing the dynamics of four and five year olds and I was so happy to have been given this great opportunity. Yes, I was disappointed I didn't get to see my son perform his songs but I believe I made the most of a disappointing moment. I have learned life is filled with little moments and I must enjoy all these little moments because soon they will be a thing of the past and today is all I have so I must embrace what I am given this very day.

After staying at my son's pre-school class my wife and I were having lunch with my daughter at her school. This week was parents have lunch with their child at my daughter's school. All week long on designated days the parents would bring lunch to their child and sit and eat lunch with all the students in that particular grade. For some reason my wife and I missed the designated day for my daughter's second grade class which was Tuesday so the make-up day was today. We brought lunch to my daughter which was a surprise and it is so nice to witness these surprises because my daughter's eyes light up every time she seems my wife and me when it is a surprise. She was so happy to see us and gave us big hugs as we brought her lunch.

We sat and ate with her and 200 other second graders at the lunch table. I wouldn't label it a "quiet" lunch but we had a great time none the less. Yes, it was hard to hear each other but that didn't matter. The fact that we were all together sharing an experience was what matter most. These shared experiences I will treasure forever because they mean the world to me. My family means the world to me and yes, I will miss them terribly but time will pass soon enough and we will be together for a very long long time. When we are finally together for this long long time we will all be a better family because I know I am becoming a better person as each day passes.