My son, a gold medalist!

I thought that by finishing a big project that dragged on for weeks, i'd be sighing in relief. i was wrong. how was i rewarded? i got scolded at, that's how, and in front of a lot of people, and over something i didn't have complete control over.
but anyway, that's water under the bridge. what's important to me is that the job came out very nice, more than i expected in fact. and i've learned not a few lessons.

and now, to my good news. my son is getting a gold medal in school come april 1, for academic excellence. i gave him the news soon as i could and the first thing he said was: finally, i'm getting a medal!
he's always had high grades since the time he started schooling. he has gotten other awards too, and has always belonged to the top five of his class. but being a very expressive little boy, his "expressiveness" always put him in the "noisy boys" list. and in his school, that has serious consequences, like not getting a medal despite a high average because of "misbehavior". but anyway, when this school year started, i told him to just do his best, he's only in grade 1 anyway; i even relaxed my own rules because i feel his being very vocal in school would help him a lot in later years. if i quell that now, i would also be killing self-expression. in any case, he's one soul who couldn't be easily tamed, or quelled, anyway.
so after a long haul, this news that he's finally getting one was truly a welcome surprise. and i'm happy for him, and truly truly proud of him.