So I got the lowdown on the brother and sister I'm mentoring and it's just as I suspected. Mason's teacher (he's the first grader) told me that he'd been to see his mother over the three day weekend and it was terribly hard for him to leave her. She added that the mother had lost custody for a minimum of two years and that was a good thing. She didn't enlighten me as to why the mother no longer has custody, but it really doesn't matter. I've seen so many similar cases through CASA.

But he was really happy to see me and never mentioned the weekend so I didn't bring it up. We spent most of our hour together talking about all of his favorite things and he wrote them down. I actually have no idea what a first grader should know at this point in the school year, but I'll tell you this... he's got it all over the second grader that I tutor. I think he's doing very well for a kid in his circumstance and I'm glad I'm a part of his life for now.