Oops...

Last week I made a 3 mistakes...

Mistake #1: Letting Ryan do Mason's homework (I WILL, however, do this again because the immediate reward, of not having to do it myself, is way worth the stress of the events that followed!)

Mistake #2: Not following my gut and putting Mason's homework in his folder after Mason went to bed. (Eventhough if I had been doing his homework with him...I would have had him do that upon finishing the assignment...) Again, probably a mistake I will repeat...I am after all, trying to teach him to responsible for his own things, right?

Those 2 mistakes led to the following after school discussion with Mason...

Me: Mason, where is your homework? (Side note: Homework comes home on Monday and is due the following Monday.) I saw it on the table last night, but I haven't seen it today.

M: I put it in my folder.

Me: No, you didn't. Because if you'd have done that, it would still be there.

M: Oh, I gave it to Mrs. F.

Me: No, I don't think you did, because it isn't due until Monday and she would have told you to keep it in your folder until then.

M: (Shrug) I don't know then.

(I gave him several ideas of places to check for it and he looked in each one of them. Coming back empty handed, of course.)

So I decide to lay on the guilt...

Me: Wow, Mason. What are we going to do if you can't find it.

M: Well, if I don't find it today, I will just look more on Saturday.

Me: Well, if you don't find it at all, what happens on Monday when it is time to turn it in?

M: Nothing, she will just give me another one to do.

Me: Oh, well that is kind of embarrasing. All your friends will know that you weren't being responsible and taking care of your homework. Don't you think?

M: Nah.

Me: Well, when do you redo it? What do you miss out on while you are having to do it a 2nd time?

M: Oh nothing. We just listen to Mrs. F. read. And if we turned in our homework we just listen. If we don't, we listen AND do our homework at the same time.

Me: You know I guess the really crummy part is that you will have to do it again. I mean, you already took the time to do it once. So, now you will have to spend double the time to do the same thing. That stinks, huh?

M: Not really. It was easy homework and kind of fun!

Me: Well, I guess you can be responsible for asking Mrs. F for another one tomorrow and maybe you can redo it home.

If you know me AT ALL, while I was able to remain calm, this conversation was maxing out my stress level for multiple reasons! A- I can't stand losing things; B- I can't stand not having things turned in on time. And C- what will this teacher think about my sweet 6 year old who in the 2nd week of having homework has already lost it? (Okay, really, what will she think of ME?...Eventhough it was really you-know-who's fault...but that is beside the point.)

So...not being able to stand it and to keep myself from rummaging through the trash...I sent the following email to Mrs. F...


...I guess Mason didn't put his math homework in his folder after he did it last night and of course it has been misplaced. I told him to ask you if he could have another one tomorrow. IF HE REMEMBERS to ask you, can he have another? If, he doesn't remember to ask you, then I would like him to pay whatever the consequences are of not bringing in his homework when it is due. (Which is so hard for me!!!) I am trying really hard to teach him to be responsible for his own things without me having to do everything for him! Which is hard for him to learn and even harder for me to teach. (It is even hard to make him look for it and not tear the house up looking for it.)...


The next day, I got the following response...
I already have Mason’s homework. He gave it to me yesterday morning!! :)


Mistake #3: Ooops....I guess my 6 year old is a little more responsible than I gave him credit for.

Good thing I refrained from digging through the trash...REALLY good thing the trash had already been picked up for the day!

(Sorry Mason! :)