CHAGO DIORAMA

So, for sharing day in Chago's class, one child is to bring something from home, anything at all, bought or made, to share with the class. They are to write up 3 clues, and then everyone tries to guess what it is, and then the item gets passed around for all to see and touch and cootify.

Most of the time, it's your typical stuffed bear, favorite book, a marked up Barbie doll, or some plastic action figure.

But this last time, about two weeks ago now, it was one of Chago's best friends -- this adorable little boy who fell in love with Chago on day one, mostly, it seemed, because he had a Spanish name, too. But then they quickly realized they had lots more in common, like pretend fighting, and some pretend fighting, and then there was, of course, the pretend fighting. From the moment they see each other in the morning, they're inseparable. And after school, he walks right next to Santiago all the way to the school gate, chatting him up and fooling around. They even sneak toys in their backpacks to trade with one another.

Which is all very well and good.

The only problem, as far as I'm concerned, is that...let's call him Andrew, is not one of the most academically advanced kids in the class. Therefore, he tends to be a bit of a trouble maker, a little too rowdy, and overall, not really the best influence for Santiago (who's got the trouble-making market cornered all on his own, as you know).

But, as we painfully learned from his kindergarten class, the more we tried to keep him away from a similarly friend-ggressive boy, the more he gravitated towards him. So, this time, we're trying to mostly drop positive hints on countering the unruly behavior, while allowing him to make his own choices, and hoping the influence flows the other way.

Recently, though, we've become increasingly concerned that Andrew was really going to start having a negative impact on Chago's schooling based on his involvement in a few of Chago's little orange card incidents, and we were just about to bring it up with his teacher, perhaps even requesting that they be separated a little more often, when Chago suddenly brought this home:

It's a Santiago Diorama.

It was Andrew's share item.

He made it all by himself. With no help from his parents, as far as we can tell.

His 3 clues to the class were: it's someone who's my best friend, it's someone who's really funny, and it's someone who is nice to me.

Ugh. Melt.

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