I got a call from the principals office yesterday. A very unpleasant woman rudely warned me that my son had better start behaving on the school bus or he's being kicked off, and I had better handle the situation yadda yadda.
I was quite upset about this. First off, by the woman's tone. She was horrid and had talked to me as if I was forcing my son to be bad just to bug the driver. I'm sorry lady, but this is the first I've heard of the situation. I know very little of what goes on on that school bus, getting info out of my son is next to impossible. Except of course that day last November when he came home ecstatic about learning the F-word.
Anyway, that phone call caught me completely off guard and I cried for a few hours about what an awful mother I am that my son is so ill behaved. Made for a bad afternoon. Then Darin called and tried to console me with reassurance that we should be more worried about Calin if he DID sit still, stay quiet, and keep his hands to himself. He's a 6 year old boy and that's what they do. I'm not so easily convinced. I want the angel child who does exactly as he told every single time, no questions asked. Okay not really, but it would make parenting easier.
When Calin got home he informed me the driver had assigned new seats recently and he sits next to a "boring" kid. I inquired about this and he insisted this kid is boring b/c he doesn't do anything, he just looks out the window. Hahahaha! I don't know why I find that so funny but I do. Poor Calin being separated from the other crazies and being forced to sit by a boring (aka well behaved) kid. Too funny.
Okay back to the problem at hand. I don't know what more I can do but ask him to behave. He knows the consequences and really, it's out of my hands. We discussed the situation at length and decided that he would take the bus to school and I would begin picking him up in the afternoon. His reason for liking this? B/c at the end of the day the car riders get called first. Oh my silly boy. I do think it's a good plan, though I'm not looking forward to driving over there every single day. I need a few days to mull over it before I can really commit and make it official. The gas for an extra 35 minutes of driving 5 days a week will go along nicely with Darin's 5% pay cut. And my time, yeah, I'd love to spend even more of it in my car. Couldn't imagine anything more productive I could be doing. Especially now that my tape deck is on the fritz so I'm once again music-less. I mean, who doesn't love hearing a 3 year old belt out Mary Had a Little Lamb 43 times in a 30 minute span? Oh how I can wait to do this on a daily basis!
Alright. I'm done venting.
One positive note to this post- I'm nearly done with my primary lesson for Sunday! I've got the lesson formatted and planned out, now I just need to finish the visuals and pick up some soil/cups/seeds for a little planting activity. Doing a Sunday lesson on a Wednesday-now that's progress! Yay!
7 comments:
Kathleen, I'm sorry to hear about the bus ordeal. It wont make any difference telling you this but I going to. I used to get hassled by the bus driver when I rode it. The driver said I too loud. He said that I bothered the other kids on the bus. The funny thing about that is hat I had my own seat. Who could I possably bother? I always thought I was a good kid. You know what? I was.
Congrats on getting your lesson done. Wish I had a suggestion for the bus situation. You've done what I would have. I do think I would be careful about making the decision to pick him up everyday. Not only is it going to be costly and time consuming but Calin needs to understand about behaving on the bus and why it's important. I know you've already talked to him about this but just keep reinforcing it. If I'm bad mom will pick me up and I want to get called first anyway. I also think part of the problem could be that he's hungry-you know how the Bruderer's get when they are hungry. He has lunch so early by the time school is out he must be starving. Good luck.
I feel the same way all the time with Alekisio. They say he's alright at school but I just wish that once a day he would do what I ask without being told he's getting a time out if he doesn't. Being a mom makes my brain hurt. I think we both have really "spirited" kids. But I don't think they're bad. He'll get it, it just might not be as quickly as you wish it would be.
A small list of incidents (worse than Calin's misbehavior) of which I was a participant on the bus. Some include Darin.
1. Eating Dog Biscuits
2. Preparing and Eating full blown breakfasts including breakfast burritos and waffles
3. Spitting out a window only to have it reenter and land in a girl's hair.
4. Giving a kid behind me a bloody nose.
5. Singing "My Little Buttercup" from the 3 Amigos until the driver stopped the bus to scream at us.
I feel like I could go on all day long. These don't even include the shenanigans on pep band, aca-deca, and quiz bowl trips. Hope it makes you laugh and puts it all in perspective.
PS. rude administrators should not be tolerated. You aren't the student anymore and you pay their salary with taxes. Either a principle treats you as an equal or you go to their superiors. (Sorry just a little passionate about this one)
SCHOOL BUS? Isn't that the way the kids do act? Isn't it part of being on the bus with a bunch of kids who are 1) excited to be going to school, 2) hate going to school, 3) want to have a snow day but didn't, 4)have already been yelled at by their parents and feel the need to pass along the joy?
Oh, I know...he has to learn to behave. And he will. But really, Kate..it's all part of riding the bus. Usually tears are more often the result of riding the yellow monster...or learning new and contraband words. Your mom is right...don't pick him up forever. It just makes him 'different'. He'll be fine. You'll be fine. But what Dawn did once when there was a bully on board, she follows along behind the bus...and watches...especially at the stops. See what you will see...that might be an even better experience. and let Calin tell the bus driver his mom is behind watching...give her something to think about. Report her conduct. I love paybacks!
Tell him he could be like Aunt Keri and never ride a bus to school. I walked from K-12. Oh and then again in college. Ricks has great hills. Remember them!!! Remember them in the snow???!!!
I remember them! Oh wait, I walked them in the 400mph wind and blowing snow TODAY!
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