Star of the Week

 Here is the Star of the Week.  He's a bit blurry because he was on hyper overdrive, fed by all the attention.  Star of the Week didn't play out real smoothly.  I couldn't make it on the assigned day, and after emailing back and forth with his teacher, I got an email right before school started that we could either do it that day, like in 5 minutes, or the next week.  I asked Ptolemy if he wanted to be the star with no treats right now, or with treats next week.  Thankfully, he's all about instant gratification, and wanted to do it immediately.  The poster was done, and I didn't want it sitting around for another week, and I certainly didn't want to buy treats for his entire class!  I quickly texted Scott and he rushed up to see his star.

I later told the teacher it was a good thing Ptolemy didn't have more than 5 minutes to gear up for this, based on his extreme ridiculousness.  As I told the class what a great kid he is, he rolled under a desk, squawking.  He then jumped up, grabbed the poster and threw it on the floor, squealing.  Then he fell to the ground as all the kids laughed.  What the...?

On top of all that, I was bullied by the kindergartners for not bringing treats!  Sheesh!  It was just like 1975 all over again!  I felt lucky to get out of that place alive!  Both in 1975 and 2015.  :)

After school, I mentioned Ptolemy's behavior, and his response was, "I know!  I was funny!  It was so funny!"  He reenacted the rolling and squawking and said, "Everyone laughed."  His face was just lit up.  He was so proud of himself for putting on that fantastic show, successfully entertaining his peers.  Wow.  His reality is so different from mine, and we were in the same place!

I can't fault him for wanting to be a star, not just in name, but for really pleasing the crowd.  My kindergarten teacher told my parents that I never spoke above a whisper all year.  I was an easy target for strong, confident kids, and I thought those outgoing kids were brave.  Ptolemy certainly doesn't seem to have any fear.  In time, he won't think it's cool to roll under a desk and make weird noises.  But for now, let's just let him think he's the Eddie Murphy of Madame Larsen's afternoon kindergarten class.

Kids ARE laughing, it's true.