The dreaded meeting with the teacher....

I had a meeting with Mason's teacher yesterday. It didn't come as a big surprise. I had the same meeting in kindergarten, and preschool, and I'm sure I'll have it next year. So what was it about? The same thing it's always about: "Mason is so smart, but he's not focused/doesn't pay attention/doesn't listen/doesn't follow directions. He is so capable but he rushes through his work/makes careless mistakes/ doesn't work to his full potential. Mason is a good kid and a natural leader, but he talks too much/ wants to do things his way/ wants to call the shots."

I've heard it over and over since he was three years old (and I've known most of it since he was about three days old!) We've talked to him, lectured him, punished him, rewarded him, bribed him, begged him...... And we do see improvement, but so much of that is just who Mason is. And I get it, I so get it, because you see, Mason and I are exactly alike. My mother sat through that very same teacher meeting every year of my academic career. She talked, implored, bribed, threatened me every school year of my life, all to no avail. (So you know that while she's sympathetic to my plight, she's also laughing her ass off just a little bit!!)

And because Mason and I are basically two peas in a pod, I know that he's compelled to rush through his work and finish it as quickly as possible, attention to detail be damned! I understand that unless it's something he finds interesting, he's going to do as little as he possibly can to get by so he can move on to other things. And am very familiar with the daydreaming that leads to missed instructions and a confused, "Now, what are we supposed to do????" I've been there. For 32 years now, I've been there. And I'm still a disorganized daydreamer. I still rush headlong into something without paying attention to directions or details. It makes my life harder than it has to be, and it will likely do the same for him.

Even though I completely empathize with Mason, I'll still stay on his butt to pay attention, follow directions, do his best work, etc. That's just what moms do. And no doubt I'll punish him for getting in trouble at school, or getting grades that don't reflect his full potential. But while I'm fussing at him, the schoolgirl inside of me will be saying, "Dude, I totally understand." Hopefully, he'll have an easier time of it than I did. But until he does, I might as well go in on the first day and schedule that conference for right about the second month of school.