The hardest part of a kindergartner's day

"Me working hard at school," by Declan Baker.

McCOOK, Nebraska -- My first parent-teacher conference is officially behind me. It was a great experience, of course, and as you might have guessed not without a little humor.

Declan's kindergarten teacher knows him pretty well already, even with only a few school weeks under their belt. She talked about what a sharp guy he was and said that her concerns were not at all pertaining to his academic progress, which is of course a relief.

His challenges were more along the lines of keeping his hands to himself while standing in line, staying on task during class, proper playground etiquette, behavioral stuff like that. None of which were surprises to me as his teacher and I have been communicating regularly leading up to the conference.

It was a great strategy session though, for both of us I think, geared toward the best resolution approach and what I can do at home to help.

Toward the end of the conference she presented several pictures that Declan had drawn. The students had been given the same two or three assignments, each asking them to draw a specific scenario. One in particular was especially insightful.

It is easy to forget how very different the world we live in is, through the eyes of a kindergartner, but the reminders they provide us are typically quite uplifting.

At the top of the page the assignment stated it was a "picture of me working hard at school."

Flashes of desks and pencils scribbling away immediately came to my mind. Declan's vision must have been quite different when he was given the assignment.

The most difficult part of the day for him, the time when he is working his hardest, consisted of a stick figure illustration of him and his classmates standing in line, hands to themselves. The oppression of having to keep their hands restrained was nowhere to be seen in the illustration however, as each figure had a carefully drawn smile on their face.

It was hilarious to see, especially given our preceding conversation, and certainly wiped away any doubt in my mind that Declan was unclear on the areas he needed to work harder on.

As I picked him up yesterday afternoon and we began walking away, a classmate of his yelled urgently after him, "Declan! Declan!" Declan stopped and looked back to see the boy put his hands out in an invitation for a hug. The two ran to each other with their arms outstretched and backpacks bouncing about and then hugged briefly, before smiling and waving goodbye.

"Who was that?" I said as we walked away. "I don't know," responded Declan, "I don't remember his name."

What a very different world it is through their eyes. Maybe I will try that hugging thing when my boss goes to leave for lunch today, nah...maybe next week.