While I’ve never actually read about it in any of the parenting or child development books, I definitely think there is a phase that all children enter into where their most common phrase in answer to any comment or question from a parent (or teacher, grandparent or coach) is “I forgot…”
It’s a great phrase, response or retort. It’s sort of like the catch-phrase at work now which is, “Oh, that must have fell off my plate.” The reference being, of course, that a person is so busy and important as to have a “full plate”—so whatever didn’t get done accidentally fell off the over-burdened plate all on its own. For kids, “I forgot” pretty much serves the same purpose. After all, we can’t prove that they DIDN’T forget, most often, they really did forget to feed the cat, clean their room, or do the homework. So, what is a parent to do?
I remember old episodes of that television show, “The Waltons” and there was a season when one of the children, Jim-Bob, was having forgetting issues. I think they wrote it into the script a couple times—his adolescent forgetfulness and perpetual distractions. I believe one of the older characters (Grandpa?) actually said that “Jim-Bob’s head was on vacation.” I loved that! It put a little humorous spin on a piece of family life that can get pretty aggravating—regardless of how universal it might be.
So, it might not be the slightest bit reassuring to you the next time you hear those two little words…but, we’re all dealing with it—all of us parents! It is a rare child that doesn’t discover and pull out the “I forgot” card and, once it starts showing up in your child’s repertoire, it is likely to hang around for a good long while.
See Also: It’s No Big Deal and Obviously Clean Means Different Things to My Kids and Me