A sweaty little kindergartener came running towards me from the playground one afternoon. When he got close, I noticed he had something crumpled tightly in his hand. He reached out his hand to show me his prize as the words tumbled out of him in one long, continuous breath: “Mommy, a friend spilled her water, and I helped her, and I got to pick this ribbon, and I picked the rainbow one.” As he exhaled, I unwadded and examined the ribbon from his hand. “It says Awesome!” I exclaimed. We continued inside the building to get his backpack and along the way, we met a few other teachers who high-fived my son and explained to me the significance of the ribbon…
