Sara Farrell Baker spent months helping her four-year-old son practise for the upcoming spelling bee competition at their local fair.
August used to sit in the back of the car, while Sara would call out words, and much to his mum's delight, he would recite back the word correctly.
Her tot loved this little game, and being competitive by nature, he adored when he had the right answer.
Going along to the fair, August was disappointed to learn that not one single person had enrolled in his group, he was entering in the kindergarten or under category.
He could have spelled the kindergarten words on his won, but instead the four-year-old decided to compete with the six and seven-year-olds.
"He spelled each word with ease. [...] But as time went on, he grew restless, as four-year-olds do, and I could tell he was approaching his limit."
"I called him over and whispered that he had done a great job and that if he wanted to finish, that was okay. He insisted on getting back in line, and I let him go, knowing it was very unlikely that he would make it through the next word."
The following word was socks. August knows how to spell the word socks; but on this occasion his tiredness took over: "He started to spell, then his voice trailed off. I heard him mumble that this was embarrassing. And my heart sank."
Being embarrassed at four-years-old is a horrible feeling, but August was disqualified, bursting into tears. Sara tried to explain that he still came in third place while competing against people much older than the toddler.
"I told him over and over how proud I was. But he couldn't wrap his mind around how not being the best winner didn't make him a loser."
Mum considered third place was not losing, she found it really impressive, wanting August to understand how she felt: "Feeling so proud of how he held his own up there with a group of big kids, all I wanted was for him to feel a drop of what I felt for him at that moment."
But everything changed. A judge walked over to the tot, a 1st place ribbon in hand. Giving August his prize for the kindergarten category as well as his third place ribbon for the older group.
"His face lit up. [...] The rest of our time at the fair, August repeated over and over that this was the best day ever. He was finally able to feel pride over his third place win in the company of his first place win."
Because of his first place ribbon in his own age group, the youngster was able to comprehend the toughness of the competition he took part in without feeling embarrassed, while Mum may still have a lesson to teach, she is content with her son's confidence booster.
"We may still be pretty firmly in the Ricky Bobby 'if you ain't first, you're last', school of thought. But I will be tucking a little boy into bed tonight who will feel more confident in himself than when he woke up this morning."
"I'm counting that as a win."
Sometimes our kids do need a little confidence booster every now and again, and it is so nice to see August was recognised for his own age group too.
But it's always vital to point out that the journey is just as important as the result.
