The first thing he chose was the bag itself. He picked a blue reusable grocery bag because he decided this week his favorite color was blue (for the other eight years of his life it has been orange and red, but hey, everyone is entitled to change their mind).
He then commenced his search for the items to put in the bag. First in were some matchbox cars. These went into the bag to reflect his love of watching racing and playing with his cars. Next in the bag: his plush golden retriever and maltese puppy dogs. These dogs look just like his dogs in real-life and were the next best things to actually being able to take man's best friends to school. He loves his dogs and wanted to show the class what they looked like more than just taking a photo. His next choice for the "me bag" was a Pittsburgh Steelers keychain. He shares his daddy's love of our 'hometown' football team and will watch the games with his dad (for as long as each one holds his interest), so the keychain represented that. Last, but not least, he put in my rock collection because he likes to collect cool rocks for me.
I say "my rock collection" because these are rocks that my son started bringing me as soon as he was old enough to walk. It was when we lived in Switzerland and would take walks along the Aare River that he became interested in rocks. The rocks there had particularly beautiful patterns on them and he loved playing with them. One day, he brought me a rock to keep. Then, months later, he found another he liked and gave it to me to add to the first on my desk. Awhile later, there was another, and before I knew it, I had a collection of rocks from all over the world. Some kids bring their moms little flowers they pick from the yard; my son brings me rocks. It makes me smile when he comes home from a walk or from school and hands me a little rock. I smile because that little gesture lets me know that at one point during the day, he picked up that rock and thought of me. (One day I even found I had one in my coat pocket and it made me think of him and chuckle because I had a rock in my pocket, but I digress.)
So, his bag was all packed for school. I suggested he take it to school the next day so it would be there for Friday and he wouldn't forget it, but he wanted to wait so everyone would be surprised. All week long, the "me bag" sat by the door. Each day I would ask him if he wanted to take it and each day he said he would wait. Finally the big day came. It was Friday, time to take the "me bag" to school! I kissed him good-bye and told him not to forget his bag, then kissed his sister good-bye, and turned to hold on to the dogs to keep them from going outside. The bus came and went and when I turned to go upstairs, what did my eyes spot sitting near the door where my son exited just moments earlier? His "ME BAG"! My last words to him after "I love you" were "don't forget your me bag". How he managed to still leave it sitting there remains a mystery. But, he did.
So, there I am, standing in disbelief looking at this bag that was so thoughtfully put together with such excitement, faced with a decision. Do I pick up my keys and get in the car and drive the bag to the school for my son or do I leave the bag sit in its spot on the floor to teach my son to be more responsible and that there are consequences to his actions? With an audible sigh, I took the keys off the hook by the door, picked up the bag, and... and put it back down again and placed the keys back on the hook. Why?
The very fact that that bag was left sitting, forgotten, at the door, even though I reminded my son to take it with him just moments before he left for school that day reflected a part of who he is. It was actually a part of the "me bag"!
Christopher can go on a mission from one room to another and forget what the mission was halfway there and not be seen again for hours unless we send out a search party. Remember that attention span I spoke of in my intro of our family - the one of the gnat? There it is. Bless his little heart. So, I had to let that part of him show that day, regardless of the consequences, so that he would learn from his mistake.
When my son got home that day, I asked him how school went and what his teacher said when he didn't have his "me bag". Turns out the teacher was OK with it. She said to just bring it on Monday since other kids could talk about theirs that day. (OK, so teacher didn't help with the responsibility lesson.) So, I told Christopher that he wouldn't always be so lucky and he would have to be more responsible and learn to remember things and focus better. I asked him how we might be able to do this. He said maybe he could write notes. I told him that was a great idea. So, we have some post-it notes that he is going to use to write on and stick on his bedroom door to remember important things. He is also going to try to stay more focused on one task at a time and not get distracted by other things. It will take time, but it will come to him.
Monday came and he remembered to take his "me bag" to school. He got to tell the class about all the items in his bag along with why he chose the bag itself. And getting to chat about the items in his bag is also a big part of who he is.
