Acting up

Went to pick Jack up at his clay class. It's a weekly thing on Fridays, and I guess at pickup last week the teacher didn't have a chance to talk to me. This week she said she had to; Jack was looking downcast.

Apparently Jack and another boy (older, natch) were using the clay working tools to, uh, swordfight. There are a dozen kids in the class, the teacher said, and she couldn't keep an eye on all of them. And she said, "I never specifically said, 'Don't swordfight with the clay tools,' but I thought it was self-explanatory..."

I nodded and listened and looked sternly at Jack, and weighed in, "Yes, we frown on swordplay in our house, and Jack knows that," and so forth. And when she does I spoke sternly to Jack, saying, "Jack, you understand, right? You use clay tools for what they're for, not for fighting. And you won't do that again, correct?"

And Jack nodded seriously, and I apologized to the teacher, and she said, "They were both very good today, but I thought it was important that I speak to the parents." And I agreed.

And we got in the car and headed for home, but before we drove away I said to Jack, You know, I thought you were going to be kicked out of the class, there. Don't do anything like that again, and you listen to your teacher. And he nodded, and we headed for home.

But as we drove home I was thinking, Well, he's six.