Learning...

Small town fairs are special... The whole community gets involved.

The town where my grandchildren attend school has a fair with a number of events that the school children are encouraged to participate in.

I'm not sure of the details, but my grandson, in first grade, told me that he and his classmates had colored pictures that would be on display.

My granddaughter, in grade 4, decided to make a castle. She worked very hard on it. 

I happened to see it on the dining room table - a few days before she was to take it to school.

That evening, while I was still there, she discovered that it was a little bigger than what was allowed. The castle itself fell under the 12 inch limit for width, length and height - but the base, with its little duck pond and garden of pumpkins, made the scene too big. It would be disqualified...

What now?!

Wails of shock and disappointment followed. She was ready to toss it into the garbage... But her parents stopped her.

You have two choices, her father said: You can be proud of your beautiful castle - and enjoy it here at home - and not submit it to be judged. Nothing wrong with that. It's a beautiful work of art.

Or you could think about how you could change it to make it smaller.

At this point, I had to leave... It was time to head home.

All the way home, I wondered what she would do. 

Later, her mother told me that she had made it fit the required dimensions by putting the pumpkin patch inside the castle courtyard, and by moving the duck pond.

I didn't see the final project that she took to school.

But I did see the instagram post her mother shared.

I'm happy she won... But I'm even happier that, when faced with disappointment, she didn't give up. What an important lesson to learn!