5/09/2016

Take all your belongings with you

Since he often leaves something at his school.

I checked my 7-year-old son's communication notebook from his elementary school last evening.

He wrote what to bring to school tomorrow.

I found he wrote he needs to bring his gym uniform and red and white reversible cap.

I asked him:

"Why did you write this? You said the teacher said you were able to leave them at school because the last week was during Golden Week and you didn't use it. So you didn't bring them home last Friday."

My son said:

"Did I say that? I brought them home. Where did you put them?"

I was surprised at what he said.

"What? You surely didn't bring them home so I didn't wash them last Friday. I asked you about it, right? They are at school, aren't they? Where do you usually put them away at school?"

"In the shelf where I put my Randoseru ( satchel for elementary school students) away."

"So was your bag and gym uniform there today?"

"Well, yes. Oh, no, no."

His answer was quite inaccurate.

"Which? Why didn't you remember? It is your responsibility, not mine!"

I was irritated.

But I noticed that what he said was a lie.

He only forgot to take his gym uniform and cap last Friday, but he didn't want to say that he forgot to bring them from school last Friday.

I asked him:

"How about your homework? Did you finish it?"

"Yes, but I forgot to bring home a Kanji handout at school."

I was annoyed at his answer.

"And you wrote you forgot to bring the napkin ( for school lunch). I told you that you had to prepare  your napkin last Friday. Did you forget it again? Oh, it is my fault. I often prepared it for you. It is your duty, not my duty. Whenever you forget something or you can't find something you want, you always blame it on me. It is not my duty. It is what you have to do by yourself!"

He always tends to depend on me.

He is still 7 years old, but I want him to do what he can do by himself.

It is sometimes good for him to be scolded by his teacher.

I think it is impossible to change him unless He thinks that he wants to change himself.



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3 comments:

  1. Hello Kumi-san,

    We have an English idiom here that goes "He/She/They would forget their head if it was not (attached/screwed on). Which generally is used to indicate that someone often forgets things or is very absent minded.

    That school communication book seems like a very useful thing for parents to have to keep track of what their children are supposed to be doing. We didn't have such a book at school when I was a child. But knowing me I would likely have forgotten to write in the book, making it a pointless book :)

    Here is a list of some of the other issues found in the post:

    Part 1:

    This line:
    Since he often left something at his school.

    Should be:
    Since he often leaves (something/things) at his school.

    This line:
    I checked my 7-year-old son's communication notebook of his elementary school last evening.

    Should be:
    I checked my 7-year-old son's communication notebook from his elementary school last evening.

    This line:
    "Why did you wrote this? You said the teacher said you were able to left them at school because the last week was during Golden Week and you didn't use it. So you didn't bring them home last Friday."

    Should be:
    "Why did you write this? You said the teacher said you were able to leave them at school because the last week was during Golden Week and you didn't use it. So you didn't bring them home last Friday."

    Reason: In the sentence "Why did you wrote this?" - Wrote is usually used in past tense but only when the person writing about it is the one talking about it.

    For example:

    My son said: "I wrote this in class today for the teacher" (wrote past tense but only for the person who did the writing)

    If it is you asking your son about something that he (had written/wrote) in the past you would use write

    I asked my son: "Didn't you write this in your class"

    You are right the wrote is past tense but unfortunately in this case the rules get changed in an irregular way.

    Examples:

    I like to write.
    I hate having to read what I have written.
    I decided I had put it off long enough and would have to get my report written (irregular but common)
    I decided I had put it off long enough and would have to write my report (regular and common)
    I could not see what had been written on the paper.
    I wrote to my boss and said I want a pay raise. (past tense)
    I decided to write to my boss and told him I want a pay raise.
    I have decided that I will write to my boss and tell him I want a pay raise.
    I continued writing my letter determined to get it written so I could do other things.
    I wrote a note to myself so that I would not forget what it was I wanted to remember.
    This note I (had written/wrote) brings back memories.

    I will admit that unfortunately there is not really an easy and clear way to explain when write/wrote/written should be used in a consistent way :(

    This link may help as it has a little test on the page:
    http://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/write-wrote-written

    ReplyDelete
  2. Part 2:

    This line:
    "What? You surely didn't bring them so I didn't wash them last Friday. I asked you about it, right? They are at school, aren't they? Where do you usually put them away at school?"

    Should be:
    "What? You surely didn't bring them home, so I didn't wash them last Friday. I asked you about it, right? They are at school, aren't they? Where do you usually put them away at school?"

    This line:
    "So was there your bag and gym uniform there today?"

    Should be:
    "So was your bag and gym uniform there today?"

    This line:
    "Which? Why didn't you remember? It is the matter of yourself, not me!"

    Should be:
    "Which? Why didn't you remember? It is your responsibility, not mine!"

    This line:
    "Yes, but I forgot a Kanji handout at school."

    Should be:
    "Yes, but I forgot to bring home a Kanji handout from school."

    Or:
    "Yes, but I forgot to take the Kanji handout from school."

    This line:
    I was disgusted to his answer.

    Reason: Although the sentence is grammatically correct, Disgusted is a very strong word for the situation you are describing and it would probably be more appropriate to use "annoyed/irritated".

    Disgusted tends to be used only when you are extremely emotionally angered.

    Examples of when disgusted would be used:

    There was a flood and the sewers overflowed, the scene was disgusting.
    I was eating at a cafe and noticed a rat on the floor, it was disgusting.
    It disgusts me that politicians get away with fraud.
    I was talking with a friend who was very angry and the language he used was disgusting. I was disgusted with the words he used.
    The man was fat and looked like he had not bathed for days, he looked disgusting.
    I was disgusted with the poor quality of the service I received from the department store clerks.
    The thief stole my purse, he disgusts me.

    This line:
    "And you wrote you forgot to bring the napkin ( for school lunch). I told you that you had to prepare for your napkin last Friday. Did you forget it again? Oh, it is my fault. I often prepared it for you. But it was not for you. It is your duty, not my duty. Whenever you forget something or you can't find something you want, you always blame it on me. It is not my duty. It is what you have to do by yourself!"

    Should be:
    "And you wrote you forgot to bring the napkin (for school lunch). I told you that you had to prepare your napkin last Friday. Did you forget it again? Oh, it is my fault. I often prepared it for you. It is your duty, not my duty. Whenever you forget something or you can't find something you want, you always blame it on me. It is not my duty. It is what you have to do by yourself!"

    Reason: Removed "But it was not for you." because I am not sure how to interpret the line. There were other corrections by they were minor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Terry.
      Thank you for a lot of corrections including what is related to very basic grammer.
      I need to be careful when I make sentences.

      Anyway, my son's gym uniform and cap were at school!
      He only forgot to bring them home last Friday.

      Thank you so much!

      Delete