I’m fielding a couple of questions to be turned into blog posts, but this is going to take me a little time to get them into a readable format, so bear with me a little bit.
While I’m swamped I’ll just report a little on my family life. We got 3 notes home in the daily folder from school last week, reporting behavioral issues from LittleA. She had lots and lots of behavioral/disciplinary issues in Kindergarten a few years ago- these were mostly developmental in the sense that she is a bit young for her class and the personality match between her and her teacher was less than optimal. Those incidents were enormously stressful for me at the time, and actually we almost moved her from public to private school. She’s been very VERY well behaved at school for the last two years. Until last week.
Note #1.: LittleA was behaving loudly in the bathroom.
Ok, so we had a talk about keeping our voices down in the bathroom at school.
Note #2.: While writing sentences at recess (25 of those ‘I will behave properly in the bathroom.’ type sentences), LittleA was having a great time, and was behaving too loudly with her friends (who were also writing sentences).
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Seems to me you want your kid to take their punishment with a good attitude- on the other hand, you might think they would have learned their lesson the first time. LittleA told me that she actually liked writing the sentences, and it improved her penmanship. Another set of sentences was ordered.
Note #3: Please talk to LittleA about cutting a friend’s hair at school.
OH SHIT.
Blue Lab Coats 
Not to be a nudge, but LittleA cannot play with bigX, she might be a bad influence on him 😛 More power to you in hte interim
This “loudness” shit sounds like fucking gender policing to me.
OH NOES! You always have to hope the hair cutting incident (and there will ALWAYS be one) happens at home…
C PP- Do you know how much I adore you? I wonder what will happen if I march into the principal’s office and announce that they are enforcing their fucking traditional views of gender on my daughter. Hmmm. Just the thought makes me laugh.
Was it at least a GOOD haircut? that takes skillz!
LMAO, sorry drdrA, that is just too funny. I just got a bad overpaid haircut, maybe I should come back in Town, and have little A give me a haircut.
One question why is the teacher listening in the bathroom ? whats up with that ?
This sounds distinctly like the friend was very much in favor of the haircut, because I imagine this teacher would have noted if it were otherwise. I understand what sci is saying, but I’d point out that you have to hope that the hair cutting incident (and yes, there WILL always be at least one) involves a voluntary victim. That probably even trumps “happens at home”.
crispytacoDoc- you think maybe little A and her friends were so loud they could have been heard outside the bathroom?
And I think you should get little A a calligraphy pen, or if she’s still pretty young just use a good set of markers that can make thin and thick lines (the mr sketch ones, the good-smelly ones, work well), and have her write a charming note to the teacher. Or a non charming one about fucking gender policing. Either way.
Becca- ACTUALLY, she did say that the friend ASKED to have her hair cut (I see you are a veteran of such incidents). Then she said that the other girls dared her to do it. OH BOY. I can’t wait for jr. high/puberty!! We actually had a long, long talk about taking dares (or not taking dares, as it were) just 2 or 3 days prior to the hair incident, and then we got to have a talk about doing things we think might not be a good idea even though there is a willing victim…
Yeah but it was probably a double dog dare so, you know….
I don’t know what the fuck a daily folder is but my parent teacher interview when I was ten went something like this…
Teacher: “Young antipodean is too competitive”
Dad: “Excellent! Good lad.”
A little later…
Young antipodean: “How can you be too competitive? Being competitive is a good thing”
Dad: “Some teachers are, how do I put it?….”
Being “too loud” also came in handy later in life. Competitive needless to say is what we all need in our grants to stay funded.
Maybe the teacher had an issue with Little A using scissors unattended. As far as I can see, she was just helping a friend in need. The big question is how good was the haircut?
– from someone who cut her sister’s AND her cousin’s hair … neither my mother nor my aunt appreciated my hair styling ability … they just didn’t comprehend my futuristic technique.
PiT- Actually, I said to DrMrA,…. WHAT was the teacher doing while those kids were scheming up this plan to cut each others’ hair??? I believe that the kids have had a substitute for at least 2 of the days in question.
Sadly, a picture of the haircut was not included in the daily folder- so I have no idea how excellent her technique actually is. 😉
ooh too funny. The dilemma is that both you and your daughter have to deal with this teacher for the rest of the year. Don’t be too hard on yourself, though….I, too have a LOUD child. Last year, it was a struggle to maintain a positive attitude about school with a particular teacher, but this year, the teacher acknowledges and embraces the loudness, saying to us “mr. A has one of those strong voices that just carries across the room— I always know what he is up to”, and emphasized that this is a GOOD thing, that as he ages we will be glad that he can assert himself with his voice, and that for now, all the teacher has to do is give him “that look” or check him with a kind word or phrase, and he gets it and quiets down. My preschooler has the exact same phenotype, I guess I will know more about the “gender policing” if she gets called on it more frequently than her brother, or in a more negative way.
good luck!
Eleventeen infinity bajillions?
C PP- more.
don’t encourage him…
Fuck off, DoucheMonkey!
We frequently get notes about my 6yo son being too loud. I love CPP too, but I don’t think this is necessarily gender policing to me, though it still sucks. Why should kids (especially the <8 set) be expected to sit quietly for 6 hours a day? That is screwed up.
Is there something in the air this month, or a weird moon this week, or a particularly strong solar ? My 8 yr old son was sent to the principal’s office for having a cheerful screaming match with a buddy in the boy’s bathroom yesterday. While I can understand that screaming (just sounds, no words) might alarm some teachers, in the end it was an example of completely harmless, not even disruptive, behavior. The punishment for my active son? He is not allowed to go outside for recess for the rest of the week, and must instead face a wall inside his classroom. No reading a book, no anything. It makes my blood boil that in this day and age of obesity (he is a skinny child, notwithstanding) teachers still deem that an appropriate punishment is to withhold recess. Make him run laps around the playground, I say! Burn some of that pent up energy that was used in the screaming challenge! What’s a parent to do? I will take a break from grant editing today and I’ll write another email to his teacher ………..or perhaps a phone call to the principal……….sigh
Delenn- I quite agree- taking away recess is silly. Half of the discipline things kids get into these days are because they are expected to sit still and be quiet from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm. They should be walking (or running!) laps!!!