Appellant's Brief

First Week of School

Anton started pre-school last Monday. Reckoned by adult time, classes last for two and a half hours. For Anton, however, being in a room with an adult telling him what he can and cannot do seems a lifetime.

It's been only a week but my three and a half year old son has managed to make me age faster by at least twelve years.

Day 1. A big day. The first thing Anton's teacher tries to teach the class is to form a line. The first thing Anton tried to do was to break it up. It seems three year olds will follow any guy out of a queue, especially if that guy is as tall as them and is making a run for the playground.

That night, I asked him what he did in school. Shrugging his small shoulders, he said, "Nothing, Daddy."

Day 2. Anton snuck past his two teachers and two teaching aides. He was able to slip out of his classroom unnoticed. His destination? The playground, of course. Good thing his nanny saw him running to the swing.

Unable to contain my excitement, I called home from work about three times before he finally arrives from school. When I finally got to ask him what he did in school, he just says, "Nothing, Daddy."

Day 3. Before leaving for work, I told Anton's nanny to try check on Anton during class. The first time she peeked in the classroom, Anton was playing with some toys by himself while the rest of the class was gathered in a group, drawing with crayons. The second time, Anton was aimlessly walking around the classroom while his classmates were being taught prayer.

So when I got home that night, I asked Anton what he learned in school. His reply was of course, "Nothing, Daddy." This got me worried. Either my little boy wasn't adjusting to school like his peers were, or his teacher was plainly ignoring him. As Anton was able to recite the alphabet and count to twenty before he turned two, I suspected it was the latter. And so I taled to him. As earnest as you could with a biy his age, and told him about the fun he could have and the new friends he could make in school. Before going to bed, my wife and I decided that she should talk to Anton's teacher.

Day 4. Anton went home with a star stamped on his hand and a cut-out caterpillar he pasted on a hotdog stick. His nanny reported that the teacher talked to her and said that Anton was starting to participate in class and had in fact followed her every instruction. I was beaming.

Day 5. Anton tried to make a run for the playground again. This time, he was not alone. When my wife talked to the teacher, she found out that Anton is one of the four rowdiest boys in class. It was every guy for himself from Day 1 to Day 3. However, Anton and the three other boys apparently came over their shyness on Day 4. From then on, it's been more like a concerted prison break.

Last time I heard, the teachers were going to hold a meeting to discuss the future of the Fantastic Four.

Pleaded by Appellant on Sunday, June 25, 2006 @ 10:59 PM with 4 Objections