A few weeks ago Abu had her turn as Star of the Week in her third grade classroom. This was something each student looks forward to...their chance to 'shine' and share with their classmates who they are.
They have to fill out a form of questions, such as 'what are your favorite books, movies, shows, etc.' It asks for hobbies and your favorite subject in school. They can also bring in photos and toys that they want to share. Think of it as a non digital Facebook.
She carefully read each question, concentrating hard as she wrote her answers. Then we went through my vast collection of digital photos and she picked out which ones she wanted made into prints. Finally she picked out three stuffed animals, not her absolute favorites but runner ups.
"Mom, I can't be without Candy Cane and Alaska for a week. A whole week. And they have to stay in that classroom all by themselves." She shudders, hugging her most favorite toys to her chest. They are both puppies and always in her arms when she falls asleep...or she doesn't go to sleep.
I nodded in complete understanding. "So you want to take two other puppies and Hanson?"
"Hanson is huge." She says, looking at the large tiger she won at last year's States Fair. Not only had this tiny eight year old won one of the biggest prizes at the Fair, she accomplished it in just two throws and three bucks.
If you want to see a carnival guy sweat...allow him to think that your sweet eight year is a protege in baseball. Don't tell him that the best two throws she has ever taken in her entire life, just happen to land in his - perfectly tilted buckets so the balls bounce out of them- ball game. Abu was ecstatic as she lugged that toy around, grinning every time the adults with their small prizes would stare at her or ask her how she won it.
Of course, we had to ignore the calls from the carnival guys...they kept trying to convince her to come play again and perhaps she would win a bigger prize...but she would have to risk losing the tiger.
Smart kid...she would hug her tiger really tight and tell them no.
On the day we were supposed to drop off the items, she desperately wanted me to make a sign for Hanson.
"Mom, we have to make a sign for around Hanson's neck." She's flying frantically around the living room, trying to convince me that we have time to do this in the one minute we had left until it time to leave for school.
The look on her face was pleading and sad and coming from Abu is always hard to resist.
"Oh, right. What does it need to say?" I asked, quickly digging some cardboard out of the recycling and cutting a piece down to a square. I found an extra piece of string and made a necklace so it would hang around his neck. Then I took out my Sharpie. It's amazing how fast a Mom can move when she has to.
"Write: Don't Touch the Tiger or He Would Bite You."
I laughed. "A warning, huh? Good idea. We don't want any of your classmates getting hurt."
She went to school with a huge smile on her face.
I helped her carry her items into the classroom. And then as I'm looking at them I realize what she has done.
Abu is many things. She's sweet and kind. She's smart but has to work hard to achieve it. She likes to have fun but is always concerned about other people.
And she has a quiet but creative sense of humor.
All the items she brought...I realized she picked to make other people laugh. To bring them joy. Her answers on her form were all on the funny side, like 'What is your favorite subject?'
"Recess." She answers.
Her photos were all about being funny. There's one with Bean making faces at the camera and wagging her finger at it. Another with Buddy howling with her Daddy. There's a photo with her pretending to attack Bean and another with her toothbrush sticking out her mouth.
She picked photos of having fun in the snow. And goofy photos with her cousins and her uncle. There's a photo of her wearing these huge glasses with wacky eyes painted on them.
And then of course, there's Hanson, the fierce tiger with a handmade sign hanging around his neck warning people not to touch him or he might bite.
"Did you pick the funny things on purpose, Abu?" I whisper quietly to her.
She grins at me. "Mom, I like to make people laugh."
Translation: I like to make people happy.
Hanson was quite the hit and every day for the entire week she was Star of the Week, she brought home stories of the other students making jokes about trying to touch the tiger and not getting bit. Each story was accompanied by an Abu grin. And apparently they all loved the wacky photos too. If her goal was to make people laugh, she certainty succeeded.
She certainty reminded me that spreading joy and happiness is free and easy. You just have to find the goofy in life. It's all around us, we just have to find it. Just go back to the time when Recess was your favorite subject and wacky glasses were fun to wear.
Then you have it...spreading joy...Abu style. :)
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