Last week, we had a conference with Shef’s teacher. Since our almost-four-year-old just graduated to the next class, this was a farewell meeting of sorts.

Teacher Les started the conference by showing us three of Shef’s art pieces, all of which pretty much sucked. I mean, really. It’s obvious the kid couldn’t care less about painting, coloring, or pasting items in an artful manner. Coloring in the lines? Just forget about it.

“I would be worried about his fine motor skills,” said Les, “except he also did this.” He handed us a couple of sheets where Shef had traced the numbers 1-20, written out his name a few times, and circled letters representing the initial sounds of several pictures.

Art apathy was also the reason Shef got “Often” instead of “Always” on the report card measure that read, “I get involved in and attend to activities.”

He also got “Often” on “I make good use of my free time,” (duh) and “I seek only my fair share of the teacher’s attention.”

On that last one, Dan and I burst out laughing. Because obviously, we know that Shef never stops talking to or otherwise interacting with adults. Ever. Not even in his sleep.