Well, it happened...the teacher met me at the car on Friday...with a very unhappy look on her face I might add. She said "We have a problem. The stamp that is on his hand is NOT from today. It's from yesterday." (He gets a stamp whenever he has a good day and doesn't have to "pull sticks.")
"Oh boy..." I'm thinking..."What has he done!?" (Braxton is not generally a bad kid and definitely not a rule breaker, at least outside of our home). So I said "Ok..."
The teacher continues "We have talked about this many times, I promise, that we only cut...(she looks at Braxton very teachery) PAPER.
"Whew! That's it!" I'm thinking.
"Show mom what you did. (Braxton reveals a 1/4 inch cut at the bottom of his t-shirt.) It makes me very sad and I know it makes your mom very sad too."
"Uh-uh..." I say in my most convincing voice as I try to hold back a smile. Then I proceed to tell her that I've been meaning to talk to her because Braxton is still having problems on the playground. So we agree to make an appointment for next week. I thank her and she goes inside.
I turn around and look at Braxton and ask him "Why did you cut your shirt?" He responds "I don't know." So I say it again. He responds, "Mom, I don't know!" and the tears start flowing.
Ok, so is it me or was that a little over the top? Of course, I would never let Braxton know that because I want him to respect his teacher, but seriously.... First of all the purpose of the stamp is to let me know whether or not he had a good day. I knew he still had the one on from yesterday. It didn't come off in the bathtub. You would think that would be enough, not to mention I would notice the cut on the front of his shirt. Or she could even send a note home if necessary, really anything other than a dramatic walk out to the car the 2nd week of school for an already emotional kindergartener would have been sufficient. I don't know. Maybe it's just me...I would have walked out the girl whose hair got cut (not by Braxton)and explained that to her mom...
I do think if I ever go back to teaching, I'll be a better teacher since becoming a mom. I'll be much more sympathetic to the kids.
5 comments:
AS self proclaimed queen of drama, I have to say that was way over dramatized!!! I am not a teacher so what I am about to say comes with NO TRAINING..but if I was babysitting and someone cut their shirt I would tell the parent Sorry, I didn't catch him in time... and have the parent agree with me, in a calm tone, that it is unsafe to use the scissors on anything but paper, the end. I am soooo relieved to know he and nobody else got hurt ; P
OMG! Is that all? Okay I can see where some moms would get upset, but in the scheme of life, this is not that important. I can also see where the teacher expects Braxton to follow the rules and she has to be consistant with the rules to keep control in her room. So as usual there are two sides. Maybe she doesn't have any children. :)
Maybe he just got bored because he already knows everything! I don't think it was a big deal either. I think sending home a note just so you would know why his shirt was cut would have been enough. He could have cut worse!!
Hi Randi! It was so great talking with you yesterday. I'll continue to keep Braxton in my prayers as he adjusts to Kindergarten. You're doing a great job with the all of the issues that have occurred so far! Hopefully the teacher will challenge him more in the weeks to come :) Love you!
i'm with you. that seemed over the top to me! maybe she just had a really challenging day?! still!!?!?!
and i agree about the kind of teacher you'd be after having kids. i only taught one year b/f i had suzannah, but i think about that year often and how differently i would have done things now that i understand kiddos better. :)
i am going to be praying for your precious little boy! i hope he finishes off the week great! :)
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