Will was recently sent home with a picture for a school coloring contest. Each grade was given one particular picture to color, and the winner of each grade was to receive a certificate and gift card. When told of this task, Will confidently said, "I'm going to win!!" With this confidence in mind, I did what any other good mother would do - I pulled out all the craft stuff and secretly told myself, "No, we are going to win!"
As we he began to color in the picture (for Kindergarten it was a smiling ornament), I anxiously watched. Anytime his crayon threatened to cross over the line, I barked quietly said, "STAY IN THE LINES!" Okay, fine, all caps means I was yelling. Fine. And when his poor hand became tired from the coloring, I did what any good mother would do - I helped color. Just a little. Okay, fine. Maybe more than a little.
We glittered, we snow flaked, we used pipe cleaners...my his masterpiece was finished!!
Weeks went by. One day, after school I brought Will over to our rec center to sign him up for basketball. I handed the form to the lady, and as she studied his name on the form she said, "I have something for you." When she came back from the other room, she said, "You won the coloring contest for Kindergarten!!"
"I did?!!" I yelled. Okay, fine. I didn't say that. Out loud anyway.
The look on Will's face was beyond priceless. She handed him his certificate and $10 gift card to Wal-mart. As we got in the car, he said to me, "I knew I would win!"
And I thought to myself, "I knew we would win too...."