please excuse MapleEngineer Jr's absence yesterday. He had come down with a concrete illness but is much better now, although his arms and shoulders may be sore for a few days
It's good to teach the kids manual labor. We do the same thing, although I don't think that we have had truancy as a result... Yet anyway.
He's a very good student and his teachers like him. I made sure that he wasn't missing anything important. I think it's a good thing to get some experience with difficult jobs with your father.
I'm sure he's an excellent student, I wasn't calling you a bad parent or something. I also didn't say that I haven't taken a kid home early for other, less serious, reasons.
Mixing concrete is an important skill, even more important is it to understand the value of both hard labor and lending a hand when needed. I bet mixing that much concrete provided a bit of extra confidence as well.