(Unfortunately, we have one cute, lovable Mr Forgetful right here at home and it is difficult to get angry with this guy. Image source: http://plasmanc.blogspot.com/)
Probably this worth writing down, in case “Big Boss” disputes it in future…
One of the problems that my “easily forgetful” son been having lately is losing his stuff at school frequently. Sometimes he would lose a pencil, sometimes an eraser. Sometimes he will even forget to update us with instructions from his teacher until the last minute before he goes to school. Often, he doesn’t realize this until we do our usual weekly checking on his school inventories.
Most of the time, he doesn’t have any idea as to how he can lose his things despite us constantly reminding him to check his things at all times and before he comes back home. We suspect the culprits are his classmates who probably has not been taught that it is not right to take other’s things without permission.
But then again, my son has his faults too – he hardly bothers to ask around until we ask for it.
Last weekend, I noticed my son seemed quite free and in between him watching his cartoons, he was also pestering me for my phone to play his favourite game, Angry Bird. I could have ignored his free time if not for my wife, shouting from the kitchen asking me to give him some homework.
So, both of us (me and my son), lazily decided to follow the “instructions” from the HEO. I took out a book and started to go through the exercise and asked my son for his pencil. He took out his pencil box and laid it in front of me.
There were about 2 very, very short pencils and 1 medium short pencil. All were not sharpened as usual. He also seems to have “misplaced” the longer pencil again. At this time, we decided to do something – we need to mark all his items with bright, not-easy-to-remove tags so that in case anyone takes his items, it will be easy to find them again.
We drove to the nearest hypermarket and soon we got “lost” in shopping for new quality pencils, a better pencil sharpener, some colour papers and more importantly, tags for his school items.
We had a “good day” and once we returned home, we set on getting the tags all done whilst my son had his lunch and thereafter started on his homework. To tell you the truth, we are still experimenting with the tags.
Hopefully brightly coloured tags with his name rather prominent would ensure that we will not have missing school items and ensure my son has a way to get his things back.
So far, it seems like the plan is working (of course we backed this with constant reminders). Then yesterday as I was about to leave for home after pumping petrol for my car, I got a call from my wife. The Big Boss had forgotten something again – art block for his school work. So, I had to make another pit stop for the art block.
And when I got back home, both my wife and my son was standing at the front door – my wife complaining that the need for an art block was already known since a week ago but somehow, my son had forgotten about it. He had forgotten when we went shopping at the hypermarket on the weekends. He had forgotten as well in the morning when my wife took him to the shop for some items.
And I asked him about it rather sternly, all he could “remember” to ask if I have updated the latest games into my phone.
Sigh!