Earthmovers and Sandcastles

For Christmas gifts for their teachers this year, the boys are stringing Starbucks gift cards on beaded strings. Well, Sam is using a string; Gabe, with his streak of independence that precludes allowing much assistance from me, was given pipe cleaners to use instead. Gabe’s last day of school was today, so he finished his presents last night and took them to school with him this morning.

We walked into his classroom, and he dropped off his things at his hook, then stared across the room at his teachers, bracelets gripped in his fist. “There they are,” I nudged him. “Why don’t you go give them their presents?” He slowly walked over to them, then stood quietly in completely uncharacteristic silence.

One teacher smiled at him and waited a moment, but he didn’t speak. Then she broke the silence by asking, “Do you have something for me?” He thrust both bracelets forward, making her guess which was hers; luckily, he’d spelled out their names in the beads, so it was obvious. She thanked him and hugged him, praising the bracelet. He blushed and didn’t say a word. We then repeated the gifting with the second teacher, who he again didn’t address verbally. After she hugged him, he walked a few steps away and stood still.

I came up behind him and touched his shoulder. “Gabe, you okay?”

His face was red, and his eyes were watery. “I felt like my eyes were getting tears in them, but I’m okay now.”

I don’t know what hit him. Embarrassment? Shyness? He likes his teachers, but he’s never really shown me signs of strong emotions toward them, whether proto-crush or hero worship. Whatever it was that made him get teary, it was gone after a few minutes, and it didn’t return, even when we were leaving in the afternoon and they gave him a little gift bag and more hugs. “Merry Christmas!” he grunted, hauling me out the door.

A couple of little girls in his class gave him cards. Not, mind you, the little girl whose mother has informed me that her daughter has declared Gabe her “boyfriend.” These girls both decorated the cards with hearts, and one of them wrote “LOVE” on it. They probably did that for cards for every classmate, but, boy, did Gabe go wide-eyed. “I don’t know why they said that!” he spluttered in denial. But he smiled a little as he walked away.

He’s such a dynamite personality, and a part of that includes strong positive emotional reactions. It’s what makes it a little easier to get through the strong negatives. There are few mild responses from him, and it can wear out those around him, but I think it will serve him well in the end – I hope.

(And as I typed this, he broke an ornament on the tree. Only a little glass ball, and not one with any particular sentimental value, but that didn’t matter to him. You can see the fallout:

“Mom, I broke it! I’m SO, SO SORRY! Can you forgive me? A Christmas hug? Will that make it better? Mom! I’m sorry!”)

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