Award Ceremony... YIPPEE... OH NO.....

Award ceremonies are supposed to be magical.  It is a chance to see our children get recognized for the amazing work they do during the school day.  I always look forward to them but also dread them at the same time.  This week James was given the Stars and Stripes award for academic success.  It is akin to the honor roll but 2nd graders are too young for the school honor roll so I call this one the "baby honor roll."  He received the same award last semester also.
For most kids, this would be the highlight of their day.  A chance to show their parents all of the amazing work they have done while in school.  For James, it was fine until he saw that some kids were getting perfect attendance medals.  It happened in a heartbeat... James was heartbroken! He is a very black and white guy.  If he can't have what he wants then he wants nothing!!  I saw him fight back the emotion and he did very well for a while.  The more kids who received this very special medal, the more unhappy he became.  To put this into perspective, of the approximate 250 kids in the assembly, 10-15 got this award.  To be honest, I haven't figured out how any children in this age range manages not to be sick during the school year, not only there every day but never late and never picked up early.  At the end of the assembly, I could see that James was about to lose it so I indicated to him to come and get a hug.  As he melted into my body, the raw emotion erupted.
I am a seasoned Autism mom.  I can handle anything from anxiety to major meltdowns.  Seeing my little man in such pain touched me in a way that few things in this world do.  I can count on one hand the times that James has exhibited this type of intense real emotion.  At that moment, my mind started soaring to what I could do to heal him and support him emotionally. (Can't help it... I'm a Libra and a natural fixer) I came up with a few medal awards he could have gotten such as, "most thoughtful child for being absent a few times this year giving his teacher a much earned break" or "kid most likely to make a difference in the classroom when he is absent." Those may sound negative to you but to James he doesn't really care what the medal is for as long as it is on a lanyard and he gets to wear it proudly.
I ran home and created one for him and delivered it to school for the psychologist to give to him when she checked in with him later in the day.   It read:

 Perfect attendance award

given to James for 3122

consecutive days of being my

favorite son!!

Today I choose to find my bliss knowing that I can still make my little man feel better with 15 words, an Angry Bird lanyard and, a hug.  I don't know what turned his day around but he had a perfect one!