Friday, September 12, 2008

My Secret Terror!

Look at her, she is not scary, she is not even a she, but I have a secret - I despise her!!!

Why you might ask?

Let me tell you my story.

It all begins with the first day of school. What antics are my children going to pull this year? What stories are they going to pass off as truth that I will have to come in and clear up? What questions and frustration am I going to hear on the other end from their teacher? I physically cringe each time the phone rings when the kids are at school, I know that I should not have this fear, but I do. What is their problem? Why did I get so blessed to have such creative and imaginative children? The questions are endless. And yet why am I so worried, they are kids for crying out loud and they do things like that, right?

Oh no, not my kids.

Lets have an example of what I am talking about:

1) Drama Queen was in 2nd grade and as was the usual routine on Monday mornings fun events from the weekend were told during sharing time. We had been on our last camping trip over the weekend and it was really cold at night, early fall was settling in. It was a fun family trip. Fast forward to Monday and it was my day to volunteer at the school and when I came in the teacher grabbed me and we headed out into the hall where she hug-clung to me. She was babbling something about how could I be here with all that I was dealing with, how sorry she was for my loss - WHAT???!?!?!? When she finally took one look at my puzzled face she told me what my dear sweet daughter had told the class during sharing time. Drama Queen told the kids that our family had gone camping on the weekend and her "older" brother had caught pneumonia and died. This whole story was accompanied with tears and was, as her teacher stated, very believable. I just shook my head - I knew it! When we brought sweet-boy home she wanted to take him back to Utah where he came from - we lived in Idaho at the time. I knew that she secretly harbored desires for his demise but this, come on! So every year I tell her teachers that she is the oldest of 2 and she might want her brother dead but he is not going anywhere!!

***

2) Sweet-boy had the most neurotic Kindergarten teacher that I have ever seen. Because he is a BOY he did not fit into the complacent mold that she wanted and almost everyday she called to tell me something that my son did not do. He did not line up to come in for recess. He did not finish his work. He asked to get a drink far to many times during class time. It went on and on till I was sick to death of hearing how much she did not care for my son. I also had to deal with the sad little face of a boy that knew that his teacher did not love him. Kids feel that - who did she think she was fooling!!!!

So why do I bring this up?

Let me tell you - Today 7:30 am the phone rings. Now who would be calling this early on a Friday morning and when I see the number I can hardly wait to answer this one. It is Drama Queens' teacher to talk about all the work that she has NOT turned in for the year. We are 3 weeks into the school year and she has not turned anything in!!! Every bloody year this is what we go through until the teacher/Drama Queen/us find something that works. But frankly I am tired of it, do the work - what is her job? Go to school and learn. It is so annoying and each year I am hopeful that she will finally have gotten it and be accountable for her work and I think that there is some accountability to what she is choosing to do, but come on.



The man told me to relax that it will work out and that it could be worse, we could have bigger problems like boys and drugs. I am grateful it is not that but it does not matter what anyone says, it IS a direct reflection of what people think of you as a parent.



"Oh, there goes so & so she is so wonderful on the PTA board but her kids, tsk, tsk. Did you hear that Drama Queen did this?"



" No, that is so awful. She is such a wonderful voulnteer! Too bad she has BAD kids!"

Okay, Okay I know that I am venting but I get so tired of doing this scene over and over again and then I feel bad for my kids teachers that have to figure it all out again. But I do thank them for their concern and compassion. I think that this is why I volunteer as much as I can within my kids classes. I want to know what they are doing, so we have things we can discuss in detail about their day. I also want to see how good they are doing and also to help those that are struggling more than mine are. I guess in the end it helps me see that this problem that seems so LARGE is really one that we can deal with and we do know how to handle. In the end it will all be alright and like I tell my kids - If you have to repeat (insert grade here) grade again we will still love you.

15 comments:

Elena said...

OH my word!!! That death story was absolutely hilarious! Get that girl into a drama class. So funny! And you using the word bloody almost made me spit on my computer. LOL!!!!!! Your kids will have great stories to relive when they are all grown. Until then, you just better keep dying your hair cause I'm sure there will be greys popping up all over the place. And if it helps, your sweeties sure make for great blog reading. :)

Busy Lady said...

Oh you poor thing. They sure keep you hopping! When I went in to volunteer today, my littlest boy's teacher told me he is day dreaming instead of working because the work is too easy for him. Where have I heard this before? Um, last year and the year before and the year before and the year before. This child just has to get it that it doesn't matter how easy it is, tune in and do it!! Maybe that is Drama Queen's problem too. Just something to think about.... I miss you!!

Aubrey said...

At leat the teachers are calling and telling you no work is actually being finished.
Did you know that in 5th grade, Dan (and Tom) figured out how to forge his parents' signature and would do it on all his reading assignments? So, he didn't read anything after that until he was a Sophomore in HS and was tested at--guess what?--a FIFTH GRADE READING LEVEL! Hence the we-still-don't-read-so-well-at-35 issue going on. Oh well, he still earned a Bachelor's and has a real job. finally. I think it's funny and I'll make da@* sure I'm checking my kids' reading homework!
So, like S says, don't worry too much, just write it all down and pull it out to remind them when they're having troubles with THEIR kids.

Aubrey said...

Are you writing down DQ's "stories" too? She's such a CHARACTER.

Pennies In My Pocket said...

I would swear this is a chapter out of a book -- too much!!

~melody~

This Mom said...

Yeah your daughter is very imaginative. I might want strangle my child for telling tell such a HUGH fib but later would laugh at how she came up with it and the acting skills to tell story in class.

I would rather have my kids face the consequences of NON-homework while they are young than when they are in High school. Hope she get it together soon.

EmmaP said...

too funny! my younger brother used to tell teachers stories all the time. They thought my dad lost his job, my mom was pregnant when she wasn't and that we were moving when clearly we did not.

As far as Dramam Queen - perhaps she and my oldest came fromt he same planet!!! I could scream at the beginning of each school year. And it only got worse in Jr High - ugh! Be grateful she is still in elem. school.....

Jennifer P. said...

Caught pneumonia and died! HA!

My second has such an active imagination, I'll be waiting for a similar story out of him!

Love your cute picture :)!

Caroline said...

And example #1 would be why she is named Drama Queen.

I also love that in the picture Sweet Boy is demonstrating his love for all things numerical. But he had to make sure he was holding up two fingers.

Heather said...

Oh, I feel your pain. I know I have many of these experiences ahead of me with Gabe. My oldest two are no trouble at all (yet!), but I haven't even made it through preschool with Gabe yet, and already it has started.

That's one thing I love about blogging. You can vent, other people will comment and commisserate, or offer suggestions. I have nothing to offer you but my support and comment love; I hope that little bit helps :)

Kimberly said...

Hehehe...you know...its such a fine line. Kids can say some truly hilarious things and as the teacher, its hard to know what to believe. I bet that teacher remembers that story forever!!! Sometimes, as funny as it seems, the "little" stuff in the classroom tends to be the most frustrating on certain days. Its awesome that you volunteer so often...
Don't worry, maybe you'll find a teacher who likes to call about good things too. :)
Thanks for coming by my blog!

Megan said...

So, I re-awarded you with a "Bloggie" award. It's only fitting because I really do love your blog.
p.s. If you ever need someone to talk to about this, feel free to give me a call. I have some experience in this field :)

Kate said...

Oh, I laughed and laughed! DQ is too funny! I agree with a lot of the comments above- this teacher will be telling this story for years to come. I'm sure she has plenty that keep her laughing!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the way you tell stories!

Tiff said...

Oh Girl...I know what you have been going through! I have had the same problems with my children! My son is a little hyper and oh my gosh I do not think most of his teachers have liked him at all! I was always getting a call for something or another! I told one teacher to just write me a note everyday to let me know how he was that day...she decided to let me know how he was doing every 15 min!!! I called her and told her I only wanted a daily report not a freaking watch dog on my child....oh..sorry I don't mean to vent...this is your blog..lol..but I know where you are, I will say it gets better, this year my child is switching classes and has allot of different teachers and knock on wood..so far no calls and is hopefully making the AB honor roll...yea!!! So there is hope at the end of the rainbow...or should I say an end to the phone calls from school teachers! :) Good luck!

Rhonda said...

Boy am I glad you reposted that! That's what I love about you..Real life--

I also hate teacher calls. One part of me wants to know when I need to help correct a problem and the other part wants to tell the teacher sorry but he's YOUR job during the day. If he doesn't finish his paper then make him stay in at recess...I can't do anything because I don't go to school with him every day. It's one thing when I teacher just wants a little back up or to make us aware and it's another when the teacher is just pickin' at him/me.

it isn't the end of the world but it is nice to have a round peg type kid that you don't get calls about all the time. i have a few of each. lol