Personal secretary to my son
A dad needs a coping strategy for all the notices his son brings home.
By Steve Coronellafrom the May 12, 2008 edition
Page 1 of 2
As far as I can tell, there are no how-to manuals on the subject, no weekend seminars, no instructional videos you can check out of the library.
As with so much else in life, the best guide is just old-fashioned experience – though I'd happily buy the book, attend the seminar, or watch the video if it helped me form a coping strategy for the notes, newsletters, and fundraising appeals my 9-year-old son, Brian, regularly brings home from school.
Some days I get the feeling that learning the three R's isn't the reason he's there at all. I'm convinced his primary mission is to serve as an apprentice courier, whose day isn't complete until another school-related message has found its way into his backpack.
Of course I jest – but only just. In fact, standing in the kitchen in front of our family bulletin board, I can see that Brian has been a very busy messenger boy of late. Those notes I'm able to read – the board is three or four sheets deep in places – include:
• A school sports and vacation schedule running to the end of the academic year.
• An update on safety concerns about the school's "Walking Bus" initiative – a program that encourages younger children to walk together each morning under adult supervision.
• A reminder about an upcoming Family Quiz Night organized by the PTA.
• Separate half-page notes – which I plan to relocate to the fridge door and fan out for emphasis – about a school-sponsored clothing drive and cake sale.
Not exactly overwhelming stuff, I know, but that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. In addition to all this hard copy, I receive weekly updates via text message from my son's soccer coach about the times of his games and practice sessions, as well as e-mails from his Cub Scout leader to alert us to any future hikes or off-site meetings.
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