Luke came home in a mood yesterday. It is not an unusual occurrence, but it was a particularly bad mood.
“Shut up!” he yelled at Henry when Henry tried to speak to him.
“Get over here!” he yelled at me.
It was not pleasant, and after giving him several warnings, it became clear that a time out or a meltdown—probably both—were imminent.
I was just trying to get through the afternoon, get the chores done and dinner made and homework accomplished, but Craig was home, and he decided to ask Luke what was going on. What a novel concept! Sometimes I forget that there might be a reason behind the mercurial moods of my eldest son.
“I can’t tell you!” he moaned. “You guys will kill me!” he added dramatically.
Finally, Craig got Luke to tell him what had happened. Luke had a substitute teacher yesterday and, according to Luke, he had his name written on the board, had to sit in the corner four times, and was going to have to miss recess today.
We were a little shocked, since Luke hasn’t gotten into any trouble this year at school, save having his name written on the board—the formal warning in his classroom—once or twice.
We spent some time comforting him, since he was clearly upset by it all, and then we tried to get all the facts so we could decide if we needed to follow up with this teacher or the school.
“What was her name?” we asked while trying to figure out exactly what had happened.
“Mrs. Fair,” said Luke, not understanding why we started laughing. It seems that Mrs. Fair has different standards than Luke’s regular teacher, standards that don’t seem particularly fair to Luke.
We talked a bit about how different people have different expectations, and that in life, we have to learn to act differently in different situations. We talked about the word adapt.
“Oh well,” I said, wanting to get back to my dinner preparations. “You probably won’t have her tomorrow.”
Ten minutes later, when I checked my email, I discovered that Luke’s teacher, the one that he loves and is appropriately named Mrs. Romeo, is going to be out for at least three more days. She said that she understands that routine is important for our children, and that she has requested Mrs. Fair for the duration of her absence.
Luke went to school today with serious reservations. I had to walk him in for the first time in months. We’ll see how it goes.
“Shut up!” he yelled at Henry when Henry tried to speak to him.
“Get over here!” he yelled at me.
It was not pleasant, and after giving him several warnings, it became clear that a time out or a meltdown—probably both—were imminent.
I was just trying to get through the afternoon, get the chores done and dinner made and homework accomplished, but Craig was home, and he decided to ask Luke what was going on. What a novel concept! Sometimes I forget that there might be a reason behind the mercurial moods of my eldest son.
“I can’t tell you!” he moaned. “You guys will kill me!” he added dramatically.
Finally, Craig got Luke to tell him what had happened. Luke had a substitute teacher yesterday and, according to Luke, he had his name written on the board, had to sit in the corner four times, and was going to have to miss recess today.
We were a little shocked, since Luke hasn’t gotten into any trouble this year at school, save having his name written on the board—the formal warning in his classroom—once or twice.
We spent some time comforting him, since he was clearly upset by it all, and then we tried to get all the facts so we could decide if we needed to follow up with this teacher or the school.
“What was her name?” we asked while trying to figure out exactly what had happened.
“Mrs. Fair,” said Luke, not understanding why we started laughing. It seems that Mrs. Fair has different standards than Luke’s regular teacher, standards that don’t seem particularly fair to Luke.
We talked a bit about how different people have different expectations, and that in life, we have to learn to act differently in different situations. We talked about the word adapt.
“Oh well,” I said, wanting to get back to my dinner preparations. “You probably won’t have her tomorrow.”
Ten minutes later, when I checked my email, I discovered that Luke’s teacher, the one that he loves and is appropriately named Mrs. Romeo, is going to be out for at least three more days. She said that she understands that routine is important for our children, and that she has requested Mrs. Fair for the duration of her absence.
Luke went to school today with serious reservations. I had to walk him in for the first time in months. We’ll see how it goes.
2 comments:
I hope I can be as calm, reasonable, and logical as you and Craig if I ever get to parent.
You MUST update us this very afternoon - even if it's just one descriptive and apt word - on how the day went with Mrs. Fair and Master Jackson.
Seriously, you MUST.
oh, and what a treat to find TWO blogs today ... and the 2nd one so enticing.
Ser, you really MUST. (is my caps button stuck? I can't seem to type in lower case as you simply MUST post again today ... don't be a blog-tease, Ser.)
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