Ah the school year has started back and I was all smug about how I knew it all going into this year. I mean, 1st and 3rd grade? Same school, many of the same kids, same teachers, same rules, etc. Oh how I naive I was. Tonight I had my first parent night meeting for this school year. It was the third grade meet and greet and I’m happy to report that my son’s teacher said that this is the most calm, caring, easy-going class she’s ever had. Did I mention that she has 14 boys and 6 girls? That’s saying a lot and I’m so happy to hear this.
My son is a sweetheart. He is a rules-follower but he can get distracted easily. I’m glad to hear there’s no early-on trouble makers in the class this year to distract him. He’s happy to get his work done and get to free time so he can draw a comic strip, read a book, or daydream/plan his cycling route or his video game strategy for that evening. He doesn’t understand why boys like to play football – he’s more of a track and field type. He’s training for a 5K and has really taken a liking to riding his bike; so much so that daddy got him a bike with gears (and no back pedal brakes!) today.
While listening to his teacher explain the rules, what kids learn in the third grade, the grading system, standardized tests (TCAPS start in 3rd grade and count on their report card), she noted that she will often tell the kids, “Your mom doesn’t go to school here” when there’s something that needs to be done. Like a big dork I golf clapped and made a little woo hoo noise. Yep, the teacher already pegged me as lazy. Dangit! It’s not that I am lazy, but I think the kids should do their own homework and not bring home assignments for me.
So after her whole spiel we get handouts that have parent homework on it. You know I caught the irony of the whole thing, especially after my very public display. Luckily the parent homework wasn’t bad it was just a questionnaire with questions like:
What are your child’s strengths?- What are your child’s weaknesses?
- What motivates your child?
- What annoys your child? (His sister?)
- List 5 personality traits of your child.
- What is your child’s interest level in school (scale of 1-5)
- and something else with a 1-5 scale that I forgot.
I filled that form out quickly like the little nerd-girl that I am. When I handed it to the teacher she did a quick glance over and said that she could see the personality traits already. I was thinking, “Nailed it!” but then realized it was my child and who would know him better than me?
It really made me think though, I don’t think I’ve ever had to narrow down my child’s personality in 5 phrases. I know the kids a while back told me what they thought about me, but I haven’ t had to write this out before. I wrote: Sweet, Smart, Sensitive (then I realized they all started with S and had to vary it up), Quiet unless provoked, and Science-minded. I’m not sure that all those are personality traits, but I figured it would help her to get to know him. I so put the “his sister” part on there. Hey, the summer is just coming to an end and that’s the most fresh on my mind.
Have you ever had to narrow down your child’s personality in 5 words? Could you? You can leave a comment if you’d like a place to write them down. It’s interesting really if you think about it. I’ll start with my other child, since I wasn’t asked about her.
Cheech: Loving, Chatty, Silly, Artsy, Stubborn, and Talkative. Wait I said Chatty, how about loves to annoy her brother? Sigh. This is harder than I thought!
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