It's no surprise then that he's having difficulty remembering to bring his folder home from first grade. Now in Kindergarten, the teacher makes sure you have it but that's not the case in big kid first grade. He is responsible for filling it with his work from the day and bringing it home. It didn't make it home yesterday....or the day before...or days before that. Somewhat shockingly, I've been patient about it. I have two other kids at the school and know other families in the class so if there was BIG news in the folder, I'm sure I'd find out. I've been trying to keep in mind that September is always a big transition month for everyone. So I asked Henry why he thought he was having a hard time bringing the folder home. He told me that he has an assigned job that he needs to do at the end of each day. He then said, "Maybe next month my job won't be so hard and I can remember my folder." And there you have it. His job (which involves some type of classroom cleaning) is hard for him and he's working hard at it. After a long day of school and a "job," his brain is full.
The thing is I know Henry. I know that his brain is partially full of super sweet thoughts. This morning he spent an hour before school drawing out a thank you card for Isabelle's piano teacher who recently gave him a toy. He hugs me the longest at the bus stop. He is the first one to ask me how my day at work was. He is considerate and compassionate.
So I'm letting the folder go. I'm giving gentle reminders but am not disappointed when the backpack returns home empty. After all, I don't want to risk replacing kind thoughts with folder thoughts in his full brain. The folder will make it home eventually - especially if he gets an "easy" job in October!
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| What folder? |
