Cole's Grade 5 Graduation

This milestone happened in the blink of an eye. I swear it was just yesterday that we stepped through the doors of Royal Road for the first time and left our precious 5 year old in the care of a total stranger in a room full of tiny chairs with tennis balls on the legs. 

Now here we are 6 years later and we watched our almost-as-tall-as-me 11 year old walk across the crowd and accept not only his grade 5 diploma but also a very special award for being recognized as the compassionate, kind hearted boy he is. He received the Mckenzie Carr Memorial Friendship award for being the epitome of a good friend and a good person. Recognition for academic and athletic achievements are wonderful but being awarded because you possess the qualities of kindness, empathy, and compassion is something more. 

Jeff and I were so proud of Cole. We knew he would be receiving the award, but we had no idea of the significance of it. Once the speech was made we were completely blown away. It's moments like this that make you realize you really are doing an ok job with your kids after all and maybe, just maybe, by raising your children with kindness, compassion and empathy towards others as part of their everyday life that they will grow up and make changes in the world or because of them and how they treat someone someday it makes a positive change in that person's life. 

I don't expect we will ever see a Nobel peace prize hanging on his shelf but I hope this recognition stays with him and these qualities stay ingrained in him. We need more people like him in this world. So please, help your children foster these qualities. Have the hard conversations when you see injustice in the world around them and use those examples to teach them why it's wrong. Enrich their lives and show them the beauty in the differences of people everywhere from different races, genders, religions, sexual orientation, abilities, and cultures. It's important. Teach your children love and acceptance before someone else can teach them to hate. Spread the love! It comes back to you tenfold. My heart is full right now and I couldn't be more proud of the young man my little boy is turning out to be.