Conflicting reports
As a follow-up to last week’s post, there were two things that happened this week with the Potato that are a little confusing.
The first? I had a parent-teacher conference with the second grade teacher. The Potato is doing excellently in school, and (as of course I already know) is an extremely bright boy (albeit one who is easily distracted). I had told the teacher about the pending separation before I moved out, and she told me that his behavior hasn’t changed at all–that if she hadn’t known what was going on, she would never have guessed.
“You and your husband deserve a lot of credit for how you’re handling this, if he’s any indication.” So that made me feel pretty good.
What did not make me feel good, however, was when I went to pick him up at after care the following day, and he had gotten suspended. For telling some kids who were teasing them that he hoped they’d die.
Ugh.
Counseling tomorrow, for landisdad & the Potato. (Not because landisdad needs it–we alternate taking the kids, this just happens to be his turn).
Bumblebee Sweet Potato 
Elise replied:
I think sometimes people go too far with the zero tolerance on this type of thing. They get all crazy when a little kid like this says something that is inappropriate. Instead people should just take it as a teaching moment and let him know that he shouldn’t be saying that. It’s a lot different for a kid to be saying something like that than an adult. I suspect your son doesn’t really know the gravity of what he said. Besides, what about those bullies? Did they get suspended?
It reminds me of the time my daughter bit a kid in pre K. He kept tickling her in that way where it isn’t funny any more. She kept telling him to stop. He thought it was funny but she didn’t so she bit him. When the teacher told me I just said “well, did he stop tickling her?” The teacher just smiled and said “point taken.” I think it helped that my daughter was so upset she cried and the teacher ended up having to comfort her. She felt awful about the whole thing but what was she supposed to do if an adult didn’t intervene and protect her?
I have often said, if our kids came out perfect at birth, they wouldn’t need parents. It takes a long time to teach them to be good people.
March 21, 2011 at 9:04 am. Permalink.