Not a good idea

Last night for supper, I ate a bowl of Fiber One cereal.

And for a little snack, I followed that with a Fiber One pop tart. Ok. Make that two pop tarts but why in the name of Gas X do they put two pop tarts in a package if one is the recommended serving.

According to my calculations, I've had the suggested fiber intake one would need in a week.

Big mistake.

Huge!

The children made more sense today

Really the children make more sense most every day. That is the truth and the truth can hurt sometimes. Especially when dealing with school issues.

It's the adults who drive me to drink.

First, the story of the day. A little girl in Kindergarten announced in class that she and her boyfriend had had sex. The whole class heard and the little girl seemed pleased with her ability to shock everyone although most were rather puzzled.

When the teacher marched her to the office, I told the girl she would need to call her parents and tell them about her announcement. She immediately began to cry. In fact, she cried so hard she couldn't tell her father what had happened.

Me: "Hi, Mr. Father of Ms. I Love to Shock Everyone. Do you have a minute? Today, Ms. I Love to Shock Everyone made an announcement in class that she and her boyfriend had had sex."

Mr. Father of Ms. I Love to Shock Everyone: "Oh my God. She doesn't even have a boyfriend."

Sometimes it is hard not to laugh right out loud!

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Thanks to all the comments and well-wishes about my upcoming conversation with the Deans of Education earlier this afternoon. Currently I am enjoying my favorite drink, the Georgia Peach. I need the drink even though the meeting went well. The Deans were very nice even if their names really aren't Dean.

But I have some problems. Damnnit! I'm really thinking of a new title for me. How does Fry Girl sound?

Apparently, some of my teachers (most of a grade level) have been making some inappropriate comments about particular students while they meet as a grade level for lunch.

This was heard by several practicum and student teachers. Not just the one with issues.

Which makes my school have issues.

Guess what I have to look forward to on Monday?

Why, oh, why can't the adults act like adults?!

Until then, I'll plan to lay out in the yard with my Georgia Peach and finish reading A Prayer for Owen Meany.

Have a great weekend y'all!

Attitude Adjustment Attempt

Have you ever had one of those days where you pushed your emotions to the side and sincerely tried to help out an undeserving soul? No. Oh, well. You'll probably not relate much to this story.

Yesterday, the parent of a boy - let's just call him Booger - came to the school to meet with the teachers and me. Booger is well, much like a booger you can't flick off. He doesn't do anything really, really bad. For instance, he has never stabbed another student with a pencil. And he hasn't ever taken a child's lunch money in the bathroom. But the sum of all his irritation adds up to a lot of stress. The 'I'm sinking on the Titanic and I don't think I can swim that well' kind of stress.

Booger has a diagnosis of ADHD. Whoop-dee-doo! So does my son. And my husband. And my darn dog. We are dealing with his impulsivity and his need to always be in motion while making humming sounds that sound like bees on crack. That part is a no-brainer. What we struggle with are all of the arguments, the eye rolls, the refusal to follow directions, and the I'm going to kick the back of this desk so that everyone on this hall can appreciate the neat reverberating sounds it makes... For the record, Booger has had some good days and we've made a pretty big deal about that. I remember both of those days well.

Booger's mom dismisses all of his behaviors because he has a diagnosis of ADHD. He is accountable for nothing. This is very frustrating to deal with (Look, there is a blunt object upon which I must go bang my head...).

But back to yesterday's meeting. I asked Booger's mom to stay after the meeting so we could discuss her upcoming appearance (today) in truancy court for all of Booger's tardies and absences. She stayed despite her verbalization that she needed to get to the nail salon. Even though the mother had been rude and full of attitude, I felt compelled to coach her through what the possibilities would be when she was in front of the judge. I emphasized over and over that she would need to be respectful - especially when the judge was talking to her. This judge can be rather tough - and he is especially tough on parents with a bad attitude.

Now let's take a Batman leap to today. Booger's mom's name is called. All is solemn and quiet because this is a freaking Juvenille Court. And there is an ornery judge present.

And in walks Booger's mom. Laughing and carrying on as if she were going to party like it was 1999. Only they don't have parties in court rooms. And it was 2009.

There was a collective gasp. I think the entire court room knew this was not going to bode well for her.

Without going into the details of the blood bath, I can sum it up by saying that it did not go as planned. The judge EXPELLED Booger until Booger and his mom have a psychological evaluation and the doctor reports back to him.

Booger's mom seemed to not care. When she came to pick Booger up from school after court, she had it all figured out. She had made the decision to put Booger in a private school or to Home School him (that really scares me given how *responsible* this mom can be).

And I'm rather pissed with this mother. After all the coaching to HELP her, she did exactly the OPPOSITE!

Hmmmmm... Now that I think about it, Booger acts just like her. Yet another example of how nuts don't fall far from their tree.