Kenny’s Last Day of School

OK – so it has taken me a bit to get back to this.  I posted Kale’s last day pictures a few weeks ago.  Kenny and his Dad decided to cut Kenny’s hair the day before and, without Mom’s knowledge, cut it with a Mohawk.  I decided to let him keep the Mohawk with the understanding that as long as we didn’t see a change in his behavior, he could keep the haircut.  But  if he began behaving as he “stereotypically” believed those with this haircut should behave, we would cut it off.   He did great!! We actually let it grow for several weeks before he requested we cut it off.  I was very proud of him.

He was quite the hit at school too!  The girls thought he was cute and the boys thought he looked tough.  And even his teacher liked it.

He wanted to give Mrs. Lagesse a thank you gift but wasn’t sure what to give he.  We went looking and he found some nice purple flowers and then we found a blue pot.  Blue is her favorite color and Purple is one of Kenny’s favorite colors.  He thought it was cool that he could give her something that was a little part of him.

Kenny had a roller coaster of a year in first grade.  He learned a lot, made a ton of new friends and had a lot of fun.  He also got in a lot of trouble and learned a great deal about making choices and the consequences that follow our choices.  He also began to learn the importance of making good choices with his friends.

Kenny hung out with several fifth graders this year and they helped & encouraged him to make some of those “not-so-great” choices.  We talked about peer pressure and being courageous in standing up for what we believe is right.  We also talked about being good examples and helping those who make bad choices see and want to make good choices.

I think Kenny really grew this year and although it was really tough at times, I wouldn’t change any of his experiences as they have helped him learn some really important lessons.  I believe the younger we learn to make good choices the better we are at making good choices when the choices get really hard to make.