Life Lessons, but Not the Normal Ones...

So, this morning I discovered that Carter has to make an invention and a display board for the Young Inventor's fair.  If you don't know what that is, think science fair on steroids.

The problem is, it is due Thursday.  Thursday.  As in 3 days from today.

"How long have you known about this??!!"  I ask him.  "For a while, Mom.  But, I thought it was only the 4th graders that had to do it." He is in a multi-age 3rd and 4th grade class and they do often have different assignments, so that's not as ridiculous of an answer as it sounds.  I glance over at him and realize he's crying.    "How am I going to get that done, Mom??  I'm freaking out!"

Me too, buddy.

There are 2 (or a million) schools of thought on how I should handle this situation.  I'm sure some of you are thinking something along the lines of , "that boy needs to learn responsibility!  He dropped the ball, he wasn't paying close enough attention and the best thing is for you to just let him fail!"  Geez, I'm glad you're not my Mom...

Others might say, "He's lying.  He knew about it all along and he is just pulling out the tears to get you to do all the work.  He sure has the wool pulled over your eyes."  You, my friend, don't know my son.  At his last school he earned the nickname "Carter the Confessor."  That boy cannot lie to save his life, he tattles on himself all the time.  Sometimes I just want to say to him, "Dude.  I didn't know about that.  If you hadn't said anything, you would have gotten away with it." (for the record, I don't).

There would probably be very few people who would tell me to do what I'm going to do which is to spend the next 3 nights helping him invent something, build it, and make a display board for it.  But, that's what I'm going to do.

Not because I'm too afraid to let him fail.

Not because he has me snowed.

Not because I really care if he gets a bad grade in 3rd grade science.

I'm doing it because I know him.  Because I know that he really did misunderstand the teacher's directions.  Because HE will be devastated if he gets a bad grade in 3rd grade science.  Because I have made mistakes before (much bigger ones than this!) and I know what it feels like when someone not only forgives you, but helps you clean up the mess.

So, anyone have any ideas of something we could invent??