Caleb's First Time In "Trouble" At School


For the first time in his short life, Caleb has gotten into trouble at school. His Mom went to pick him up Friday, and the teacher wanted to know why we didn't talk with her about the note she sent home with Caleb. That was because we didn't get the note, of course. Our sneaky five-year-old threw the note into the trash before he was picked up so we wouldn't find out about the problem. When I got home from work that night I sat down with him and asked Caleb what happened at school. He told me that he was talking too much and not paying attention in class. Then I asked him what happened to the note his teacher sent home. "Umm . . . maybe it's still in my folder," he said.

"Nope, it's not there. I looked already. So, where is it?"

"I think maybe it got left at Bello's house." Bello is what he calls his maternal grandfather (short for Abuelo).

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what happened."

"Okay, I'll call Bello and ask him to read the note to me. Do you want to tell me the truth now?"

"Umm . . I guess it maybe got accidentally thrown away."

"Accidentally?"

"Uh huh."

" Well, I think maybe it got thrown away on purpose because you didn't want to get into trouble. Is that what happened?"

"Well, maybe. Yes, that's the truth."

I'm amazed that a five year old can be so devious, but it really happened. So Caleb is "grounded" for the weekend. No television, no computer, no Nintendo, and no playing with friends. I almost feel like I'm punishing my Dad as well because he had planned to take Caleb to the movies this weekend. Oh well, there's always next weekend.