Three 1st Grade Buddies

I'm looking forward to having The Buddies in First Grade for the year. Our school had a Back-to-School night last week, and I had the opportunity to meet all three teachers. Three teachers? Yep, that's how we do it around here.

When my oldest was in elementary school, he had good friends who were twins. One of the boys was a little bit of a trouble maker. He was outgoing and well-liked, but not the best student. His brother was a little on the quiet side. Contemplative, responsible, a good student.

I asked the twins if they had always been in the same class. Apparently their parents had insisted that they be kept together. The reason? The quiet boy was charged with the responsibility of keeping his brother on task. I felt bad that this little boy had to be the heavy to his brother's flighty tendencies. And I'm not sure his brother ever learned to be responsible for himself. He never worried about making sure he had his books at homework time because he knew his brother would have them.

The flip side of that is that I'm not sure the quiet boy ever learned to make friends. His gregarious brother made friends easily and the shy twin seemed to tag along. I think it's possible that his social development was stinted.

Years later, when I found out I was having triplets, I thought about that scenario. I knew that I didn't want my little boys to have the same experience.

And that is how we arrived at Back-to-School night with three First Grade teachers to visit.