"Jacob," I whispered as I tiptoed to his desk. "Please be a good boy today. Show your teacher what a great guy you are, and you'll have a super day."
In pure Jacob fashion, he hugged my neck and kissed my cheek. He assured me with a quick, "I will."
I left him to Mrs. Myers, and tried to make it through the day without calling the school and asking how he was doing.
Later this afternoon, Jacob walked through the door and said he was ready to watch cartoons. Our new schedule does not allow for television, until all homework was done. Jacob found the crayons and completed his task within a few minutes. His work was sloppy, to say the least. But, he followed directions without having them read to him, which was the first time that has happened.
Then we sat down to talk about his day. He told me about recess, lunch and story time. He reminded me that that was the good stuff. I asked about math, reading and other subjects. He said he liked them and read his story book to me. The hard part came next. His behavior chart. The teacher gave him a smiley face and a "green" for his behavior. He proudly pointed out that he got a "green" and said, "Mom, 'Green' means good."
Little did he know, she made notes in under the color chart which informed me that he had a couple of incidents that were not well received by his teacher. He had to forfeit his tv time today, for which he is profoundly sorry. I am amazed by his dramatic flair when it comes to timeouts and the loss of priveleges. But, I hope, in time, the dramatics will stop, and Jacob will come home day after day with a good report from school.
Until then, "Green" means good, unless the teacher makes notes with a red pen.