That’s how it always starts. You are happy in your own la-la-land. Then you see the teacher. Standing there with JUST your child. Alone. Just the two of them. And you hear the dreaded words:
“Excuse me. Might I speak with you a minute?”
If you’ve never heard those words, good for you. You should get a freaking medal. I have a Master’s degree in Education/Counseling and have read every book on parenting I could get my hands on. And yet, I hear those words at least once, if not TWICE a week.
I do have TWO children, after all…
At least we look cute!
“Excuse me. Might I speak with you a minute?”
What comes out next is a wide variety of issues, from, “he punched a little boy in the face” to “she is disruptive to her learning and the learning of her classmates”.
Seriously?
Am I raising little sociopaths that are aggressive, overly-emotional and anti-social? Don’t I spend enough time with them? Teach them right from wrong? Be a good role-model? Read to them quality stories every night with good moral values…
Or maybe are they just being kids?
And where, exactly, is that line between the two?
Ask Tater about the hitting incident, and he’ll tell you that the boy pushed his friend first, and he didn’t like that, so he hit him. We talked about what else he could do instead of reacting like that, like go get a teacher, use your words. Blah blah.
You don’t want people hitting you, do you?
They call me Vigilante. Don't mess with my bros.
“No, Momma. But he shouldn’t push.”
No, Mr. Smarty-Pants. He shouldn’t. I know you care about your friend, but you can help him by using your words. NOT hitting. {Although, secretly, I’m glad to see his loyalty and the way he will stand up for himself and his friends. Might come in handy at 14. Not so good at 4….at pre-school…}
Ask Sassy about the being disruptive and she doesn’t even understanding what that means. She’s just wanting to be silly and have fun.
Bet throwing snowballs would count as "disruptive"
“I’m listening, Momma. I just like to giggle. Why does everyone need to be so serious all the time?”
Sigh. I don’t know, Baby….I don’t know.
Is this just me and my dysfunctional children? Is it sugar? Lack of sleep?
Or are they truly just being kids? Annoying, smart-ass, defiant kids…but still good, basic, run-of-the-mill kids. NOT little adults. K-I-D-S.
“Excuse me. Might I speak with you a minute?”
So you sit there. Helpless. Squirming. While the teacher explains to you all the things that are either bothering her, or that she must disclose for the incident/accident report. Generally, in front of passersby. You nod. You may ask clarifying questions here and there. And you try to make that judgement between inappropriate behaviors based on good values, or just being rotten. And start mulling over the punishment options…
“Excuse me. Might I speak with you a minute?”
Oh, and it’s ALWAYS to the Mom…
At this point, I’m just blaming day care.
