At Jacob’s school they have this coin stamp system. If they have a good day at school, they get a coin stamp on their calendar. At the end of the month, if they earn so many stamps they get a reward. Today, Jacob came home without a stamp. I always know immediately if he did not get one because the first thing he says to me when he gets off the bus is, “Mommy, don’t look at my folder today.” (I have to point out that this has only happened 5 times this entire year… so when he doesn’t get one, it’s a big deal to him.)

Sitting at dinner tonight, Jim and I were talking with Jacob about what happened at school today and asking why he didn’t get a stamp. He told us that he told some kids they were wicked because they were making fun of him. (I had a brief vision of me getting all Rebecca De Mornay from Hand the Rocks the Cradle on some kids but I digress…)

The short version is that Jacob ended up getting a time out at school for disrespecting others. Jim and I were trying to explain to him that, even when others are doing something unkind, we can’t be unkind in return and next time he should go talk to the teacher first.

Christopher, who has been sitting there quietly listening to all this decides to chime in and starts telling us, “Mommy, Jacob did NOT do a good job at school today! He didn’t listen to his teacher.” I asked him, “And how did you do in school today?” He tilted his head to one side and said, “Oh, I did ok. Better than Jacob. It’s up to us, Mommy, me and Daddy to make sure that Jacob does a good job at school.”  (Meantime, Christopher is on his own “performance improvement plan” at school.)

Where does he come up with this stuff?