I Didn’t Have a Feeling of Dread.
Shane got sick and missed a day of school – already.
But even though he was sick, he got out of bed, showered, and ate breakfast. We discussed his options as he slowly ate a bowl of cereal and drank a specially made smoothie. (He likes lots of cherries in his smoothies.)
When it came time to leave, he finally gave in to his illness and went back to bed. Before he went, though, he asked me to please email his teachers and ask if they had any work for him to do over the weekend.
So I did.
And shortly thereafter, the responses started pouring in. There’s a reading, a video, completion of a project, questions to answer, a vocabulary quiz…. All seven of his teachers responded in a timely manner, allowing Shane the opportunity to make up his work.
Of course, Shane was still on the couch, staying hydrated and getting plenty of rest. So the seven email messages came in to me.
I was reading them, just to get a feel for what Shane was doing in school, when I suddenly realized something:
I didn’t have a feeling of dread.
My stomach wasn’t churning and my jaws weren’t clenching and I didn’t feel completely under water. In fact, I was just reading and finding out what was due, and thinking about how Shane would react to the assignments.
Here’s the thing: Shane would do the assignments. He would watch the video, answer the questions, print out the reading and study for his quiz. He would do what the teachers asked. He would do what was required of him to get a good grade. And he would have everything done and ready to turn in on Monday morning.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve gotten emails from teachers – some of them even the same teachers – explaining the upcoming assignments and/or homework. Ninety-five percent of the time, those emails were about Dylan’s work.
The feeling of dread came from two things: (1) the certainty that Dylan had either lost the assignment or claimed that he didn’t know how to do it, and (2) the additional certainty that Dylan wouldn’t complete the assignment even after he got the email that explained what he needed to do.
With Shane, though, my confidence has never wavered. And when I read those emails, knowing that Shane had two full days to complete the work, I knew it would all get done and – best of all – be turned in, on time.
And it was.