Absent-minded professor

Well, it's happened already.

One year into elementary school and Max is already earning a reputation as "The Absent-minded Professor".

Truth be told, I've been seeing the signs for a while now. Max is always last off the bus, backpack hanging wide open, books falling out. Hair all disheveled, fly unzipped, coat dangling on his head about to slip off as he makes the final step off the bus without looking up from his library book. It has always amazed me how Max can come home and get interested in something, and how hours can pass before it occurs to him to take off his coat or even use the bathroom. I'm pretty sure his coat and shoes would never come off if I did not finally remove them. And, as for going to the bathroom, lets just say he has a lot of VERY close calls :)

Now, I've known more than my fair share of absent-minded professors. Here's my favorite:

My graduate school professor, Jorge, with Max at the Boston Museum of Science on our 2009 Boston trip ... looks like, between the two of them, they found a brain! ... but is that the same thing as a mind???? Hmmmmmmm...............

Jorge is the quintessential absent-minded professor. He is an AMAZING person - Ph.D. from Yale, teaching posts at Notre Dame, Harvard, MIT, and Boston College, countless philosophical publications. However, it must be noted that the ONLY reason he functions in everyday life is that he is married to a woman even more amazing than himself. His wife, Laura drives him around every where (Yes, he is too absent-minded to drive), makes sure he leaves the house with everything, etc.

I can only hope that Max marries such a woman, but until that day, I will continue to worry when Max's report card comes home, perfectly stellar as always, with the exception of one 'S' next to the line marked 'work habits', as it did for the second time around a couple of weeks back.... Don't get me wrong. I'm totally fine with Max getting 'S's (for 'satisfactory') or 'E's (for excellent). We all know he's a freaking ROCK STAR. But this particular 'S' bothered me a little, particularly since both Jake and I have really struggled with our work habits. I KNOW how hard it can be to accomplish things without good work habits (I *might* even have been referred to as an "absent-minded professor" on occasion ;D). And let's face it, this fella is destined to accomplish BIG things. So, I spoke with his teacher about it.

As soon as we sat down to talk, I could hear it coming: "He's always forgetting his pencil or leaving his book in the other classroom. He's like ... the absent-minded professor ..." GULP!

I can't say that Max's teacher had any great suggestions for just how to deal with the work habits issue. She suggested lists, timers and the like, all of which we have tried with some success at home. Still, it makes me feel better to know that we are both dedicated to helping the absent-minded professor find his mind ... even if it does look to be an uphill battle!**

**Note: Of course, Max read this immediately. He is very taken by the silly Einstein picture. I'm sure he sees a little bit of himself there. I know I do!