I tattled on my own son

This week at school is Right to Read Week.  One of their goals, is if the school reads for 100,000 minutes, the principal will dye his hair pink.  This will obviously be something that all the kids can witness him doing; only if they reach their goal though.

Last night Nathan said that his teacher said he had to read for 55 minutes.  He did not (that is a whole other story that I will not get into now) have to read for that long.  Nathan kept stalling, and finding reasons that he could not read to me, knowing that he had to read for 55 minutes.  Finally I told him that he had to read or go to bed.  He asked if I would just sign his slip saying he read for 55 minutes.  I told him no.  We argued about it, and I finally said yes.  Even though I had no intention of signing his slip.  I just wanted the argument to be done.  I e-mailed his teacher this morning and told her that Nathan did not read, and to please punish him however she sees fit for not completing his homework.  He needs to learn the consequences of his actions.

She e-mailed me back and said that Nathan did turn in a reading slip this morning, and after reading my e-mail, she pulled it out and looked at it again.  He had turned in 55 minutes and signed my name.  She said she should have paid more attention because it is clear that I did not sign it.  In fact the "L" for Lisa was backwards! 

She asked me if it was okay that Nathan stays in at recess to read.  She had already turned in the classroom total, and Nathan's 55 minutes were part of that total.  To keep it honest, she said she would have him read at recess and makeup for some of the time he claimed to have read.  I told her to absolutely keep him in, and that I do not think that the punishment was severe enough.  Why couldn't he have been a reader like me?  He inherited a majority of my traits, but not that one for some reason.