The other day, while eating dinner, Kimran said "I want to make a sorry card." I tried to find out what he meant by this as he seemed insistent on doing it right then and there. After many attempts to investigate this further, I learned that Kalum (one of the other kids in daycare) gave Patty, the teacher, a sorry card and Kimran wanted to make one for Patty as well. So in my head, I thought that perhaps someone in Patty's family passed away and she mentioned it to the Kalum's mom who got him to make a card and say sorry to her while giving it to her. I gave Kimran some coloured construction paper and he began to scribble something in a colour that was not visible on the paper and then proceeded to cut the paper with his scissors (the ones he's allowed to use). I didn't think it was a big deal since he cut it up so I didn't put it in his school bag to take the next day.
The next morning while dropping off Kimran at my mom's place before heading to work I happened to mention the "sorry card" to my mom...immediately Kimran started to cry while telling me I forgot to bring the card so he could take it to daycare and that I had to go home and get it right now! I managed to distract him with something so that he would forget about this "sorry card" and I could leave the house to go to work. A few hours later, I listened to a message on my voice mail...it's my mom telling me to not forget the "sorry card" and to call Patty to find out how Kimran was doing because he was crying so much when she dropped him off at daycare in the morning. So I called Patty and I tried to find out what the "sorry card" was all about - it was not clear after my conversation with Patty who said that Kimran stopped crying soon after my mom dropped him off. I hung up the phone wondering what I should do - get a condolence card from the dollar store and have Kimran give it to her when I pick him up from daycare? And then, I decided to email Kalum's mom with the subject line: "Can you solve the mystery of the sorry card?"
Kalum's mom emailed a little while later saying that she was upset with Kalum who, along with Kimran and Kade (another kid at daycare) ran from the park all the way to daycare without listening to Patty's pleas to stop the other day. She felt that Kalum is at an age (he's a year older than Kimran) where he knows better than to do this so she decided that his punishment would be to write a "sorry card" and then get a time out for 40 minutes in his room without tv and toys that evening. Aha, the "sorry card" mystery was solved.
I can't help but wonder if Kimran, in his own mind, understood what the "sorry card" meant because he was so insistent on making one as well and became so upset (more than I've ever seen him be) when he wasn't able to take it to daycare the next day. I hope this means that he is learning to be a caring boy - a skill that I think is so important in developing in our children these days.
