Saturday, September 13, 2008

Political Surprise


photo credit-hjl
creative commons license


No, not that one. This political surprise was a lot more local.

You could have knocked us over with a feather when we got this news.

Buddy Boy, now 8 years old and in third grade, decided to run for the school council. To do so, candidates had to give a speech and make a poster. His poster simply said:


Vote for Me!

Buddy




We asked him what he said for his campaign speech. He said he told the kids that he would do whatever they said (sounds like he has a future as a politician).

And then the real shocker
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He won!!!!

His teacher assured Liz that she had not made a mistake, and Buddy Boy had indeed been elected by his classmates. Buddy Boy's teacher moderates the council, so she'll be able to facilitate his participation (yahoo! another free social skills opportunity).

Buddy Boy seems pretty proud of himself, but at the same time says, "I thought I was going to win".

It's times like these when I can truly feel that anything is possible. And I also feel relieved, because we never seem to know exactly how the other kids are feeling about him. Are they accepting him for who he is? Do they like him at all? Or just tolerating his presence?

Today those fears recede to the background. Today we celebrate.

24 comments:

EJ Willingham said...

Oh. My. Gosh. That is simply, absolutely, amazingly fabulous! Congratulations!

Ange said...

Great news! Glade buddy Boy is doing well in the third grade and that this yearis starting out so promising!

Club 166 said...

Thanks, guys.

I'm still reeling a bit. This is the same Buddy Boy who uses recess outside to "walk the fence", dig holes, and look for "stuff" to take home in his pockets. Who never can relate what he did in class, except to say he did "Great!", which usually means he didn't get in trouble.

It's cool.

Joe

jypsy said...

Very cool! High 5's from the Bains.

Anonymous said...

The fact that he wanted to run and had the confidence to take a chance speaks volumes to you and Liz and your parenting style. I'd say despite all the bumps in the road, this kid is going places. Congratulations, Dad!!

Niksmom said...

Too exhausted to be able to form coherent, fluid prose. Kvelling and weepy here at Nikshouse. Simply Kvelling. (It's a good thing, a very good thing.)

Alyric said...

Well done Buddy Boy and what a great opportunity to put some polish on the social skills. That skill set is so much better learnt in the natural environment. Trouble is that spectrumites get maybe 10% of the opportunity for practice than their peers.

Well done Buddy Boy.

Happy Elf Mom (Christine) said...

Awww! You must be so proud!! Awesome. Maybe the voters saw that whatever he does, he's genuine about it.

Bonnie said...

That is so awesome that the kids chose him! I bet you guys are so proud. I loved his campaign speech, he'll do anything they tell him! Doesn't get better than that huh?

THanks so much for your kind words over at my little corner of the blog world! It's always good to hear when people can relate to my ramblings!

Anonymous said...

I know that feeling of not knowing whether classmates are simply tolerating, or whether they see the specialness that us parents see in our kids. Tears of joy as I'm reading this.

Ang said...

Holy cow! That's awesome! Congratulations to him! :)

Daisy said...

Wow! What a great choice for Buddy Boy (to run at all) and then to participate? Wow. You must be more than proud!

Casdok said...

Brillient! Congratulations!

Mary said...

Wow! That's fantastic! It's beyond fantastic! Congratulations, Buddy Boy!!!

Anonymous said...

Big congratulations to Councilman Buddy Boy and his proud parents!

Alison Kerr said...

That is truly awesome. I hope your son enjoys and grows from the experience.

VAB said...

That rocks! Student governance is actually an excellent place for people with unusual wiring (first hand experience) so let's hopes Buddy likes it enough to do it again some time.

kristina said...

Wish we could cast our votes for him!

Anonymous said...

Awesome! That is soooo exciting. Send him my congrats!

Julie L. said...

That does sound like an excellent opportunity to build social skills. : ) Kudos to Buddy Boy and Congrats to his mom and dad!

Joeymom said...

Yay, Buddy! Good job!

Happy Elf Mom (Christine) said...

Hey, how's he doing in office there?? How's it goin'??

Club 166 said...

Oh, you had to ask, Mrs. C...

The student council meets once a month. He went to the first meeting, and didn't like it. It was too loud, and he held his hands over his ears. His teacher offered to let him use headphones, but he said he'd look too silly. He also said there was too much writing.

He says he'll go one more time and try it before he decides whether or not he sticks it out.

We're fine with supporting him whichever way he wants to play this. For now we're not making a big thing out of it.

Joe

Anonymous said...

Joe, that is awesome! Way to go Buddy! You should be floating on a cloud, you deserve it!