I guess when my son's not being marked absent at school, he's goofing off.
His teacher phoned about 2 hours ago to tell me that he was giggling @ at a classmate. She asked me to talk to him about it.
So I did. Immediately.
I went directly to the school and took him to a conference room and really talked to him.
I:
*Explained the whole "disruption of class" thing and how it keeps other kids from hearing what the teacher is saying and learning.
*Explained how I hate it when teachers call me about goofing off because it makes me feel like they're not giving him enough work to do in class and how I really need them to keep him busy and how I might just tell them to give him extra work to do. *heh...that got him good*
*Explained why he should hate goofing off in class and how he is "so gonna hate it because now he's grounded for a week". (which means no video games and "Ohhh nooo!!!!, he's gonna dieeeeeee without them")
*Explained to him that he needed to apologize to the teacher and his classmates for the disruption and yes I know how embarrassing that will be.
He told me he was sorry that the teacher called me. I asked was he sorry that he got caught, sorry the teacher called to tell on him, or sorry for what he did. He said "all of the above". Hey, at least he's still honest.
Then he apologized "for real" to me. Then he told me he was going to apologize to his teachers and classmates.
I dared him to even look at the kid making funny faces. He said sometimes he couldn't help it. The kid sits right next to him in class and he just "sees him all the time" and "the teacher never gets onto him, just me because I laugh".
I told him that those funny faces got him in trouble. If he wants to stay in trouble, keep on laughing. He admitted that he didn't want his teachers ever calling me again.
So then we practiced.
I made funny faces and dared him to giggle. I contorted my face so much that even the receptionist started to laugh. Not my son, though.
He knew he was in t-r-o-u-b-l-e because I didn't laugh. Not a bit.
His teacher came in and thanked me for caring enough to show up immediately to put a stop to it. She said she thought my son had been taught better than to laugh at someone less fortunate than him.
WTF?
She said son had been laughing at a little cross-eyed boy.
Aha!
I let her in on it. I told her that the kid was NOT cross-eyed, he was just making goofy faces. I should know. This kid spends much of his weekend at my house playing video games and riding bicycles. While he indeed may be less fortunate, he is NOT cross-eyed.
She couldn't believe it. She asked the receptionist if the kid was cross-eyed or not. Nope, not according to his medical file.
Now she's upset that I got onto my child for disrupting her class because she didn't have her facts straight. Now she says she's gonna apologize to my son. I told her that she couldn't do that. He'll think she's a push-over. He'll also think I can come to the school and get him out of any kind of trouble. She feels horrible but it's best to nip it in the bud. Just nip it. After all, he DID disrupt the class. He DID.
I stand by what I did. Regardless. If he's laughing and cutting up, that's disruption. Everyone suffers. He has assured me it won't happen again. I believe him. I think he's learned a valuable lesson. No matter what someone else does, you are responsible for YOUR actions and REactions.
God help me get through the next week while he's grounded. God help the teachers get through this year, too. I have a feeling they're gonna need it when two 11 year olds can "put one over on them".
Cheater glasses - November 20, 2008 Don't mess with my iced tea - November 18, 2008 Happy Birthday Danny DeVito - November 17, 2008 Mrs. Beasley - November 13, 2008 foot ailment - November 12, 2008
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