Mr. Responsible

I teach Sunday school at church, and one time Barrett and I went to a teacher appreciation activity at a friend's house. On the walls were little drawings and notes by the children saying what they liked about their teachers. Behind our seats was one that caught my eye. It read "My tether is smort."

"Well that's incredibly ironic," said Barrett. We are not above laughing at little children, and had a good chuckle at this one before turning over the paper to see who had written the note. You know where this is going. It was Henry, of course.

We got a kick out of that, and I can share it here because I know that Henry at 7 is probably much smarter than I will ever be.

What really cracks me up is that he keeps getting awards at school for being responsible. Two years running I've gotten a note inviting me to one of the school's monthly assemblies where they award kids for demonstrating various character traits. This year's award came on the same day he 1) lost his new Nintendo DS; 2) lost his glasses; and 3) lost the pedometer he brought home from school to record how much he walks in a day. I accept that Henry must have more important things on his mind than putting on shoes before leaving for the bus, and find it endearing when he slips into his dad's jeans in the morning because they were next to the ones I laid out for him.

So is it wrong that I sort of wanted to make a rebuttal when I found out he was getting yet another pat on the back for being responsible. "But you should see how many things he lost today!" I wanted to shout. "I sent him into the bathroom to brush his teeth THREE times before he remembered to BRUSH HIS TEETH when he got there!" Still, I know that Henry is a remarkable young man, an excellent student, and a pleasure to have in class (as at home). The truth is, I am so so proud of him. So I chose to give him a big hug and congratulate him like I didn't see any irony in the situation at all. Who's the smort one now?