Nothing. I did nothing.

Every time I pick up my son from school I ask, "Did you have a good day? How was school today? What did you do? Did you learn something new and  fun?"  (It seems like a barrage of questions, I know, but it's purely conversational.)

I think I might be asking the wrong questions as his response is usually always, "Nothing. I didn't do a thing."
I say, "So you didn't play or draw or even have snacks. Okay." He says, "Well, I did have a snack and took a nap." In my head I'm thinking, we don't pay for you to nap and snack and then I think, wait, my middle schooler did the same, minus the napping. Come to think of it my 16 year old niece does the same and she has shared how she wishes she could nap. So I wonder if it's just a general consensus for students to not care to share or even just remember all of the activities they participate in while they are in school. Of course I felt like this was exclusive to just us and then this past week I attended a school meeting where the teacher would be explaining the "Common Core Standards" for our pre-schoolers.

Once the teacher explained the standards, the goals at the school and had a little "Core Standards" Q&A, she opened the floor to general questions.  To my surprise other parents were sharing the concern that their children say they do nothing or all they do is play all day.  Now, if my son was playing all day with the other children I would be fine, as he is 4 and a half in a household where the person closest in age to him is his 23 year old sister.  Play with children his age is exactly what I am interested in for him.  Peer interaction and socialization is pertinent to the healthy development of all human beings, I feel. For the past couple of years we've been home together. I take him out to explore the world and we go on diverse adventures most days it was just us.  The transition to all day school has been a bit challenging for both of us.  We miss each other and last month he would cry when he was at school cause he missed being home with mom.  Pre-school came at the right time for us.

Yesterday when I picked him up from school I asked, "How was your day?" He responded, "It was great!"
I asked, "So would you like to share your rose and thorn?" He said, "School all day was my rose." My response was, "That is awesome, what fun stuff did you do?"  Now, here I think we are making progress, I'm so excited I can't even contain my smile, which he really can't see cause I am driving and he is in the back seat..."Nothing, I didn't really do a thing, mom."

I quickly turn my head to look at his face, he is smiling from ear to ear and there is a twinkle in his eye.  If doing nothing makes him this joyful, he should continue to do nothing every day!

Sharing is caring.

Thank you for reading and sharing.

Namaste!