[blueerica]

Originally Posted by Baileykat

I stand up for him, make a fuss, or let it be? Hmmm!

Oh, how I feel for Bailey!! I honestly don't know what to say. Things can go either way for kids and school. If you don't stick up for him, he'll receive the brunt of unwarranted punishment. If you do, it could be a pattern of "Mom Saves the Day." So many times I was blamed, or punished for things I had little or no part of, while the true criminals got off scott free. The worst of all for me was kindergarten year, when the teacher was singling me out. I was only 4, and she just didn't like me. If they had allowed detention, I would have had it, but I spent a lot of time in trouble when I was doing nothing wrong at all. The teacher even had the school run a battery of tests on me to see if I was capable of being a kindergarten student. I was, and after 5 days of solid testing (That, honestly, I'll never forget...) I passed. It was soon to be Winter Break. My mom & step-dad were already thinking about moving, and the schools unwillingness to transfer me to another kindergarten class solidified the decision to move. We looked for a new house and within those two weeks of vacation, we moved. I had a great new school, with a wonderful kindergarten teacher, Mrs B. She changed it from me, and I really started to excel in my classes.

4th grade was a bizarre year for me. I had a teacher who insisted on nicknaming me Airhead. I would get an A on my spelling test, and on a number of tests, she'd write A is for Airhead, and once, she even drew a hot air balloon. She made me so mad...

Anyhow, the story I'm trying to get to... a girl that used to be my friend, Jessica, decided to tell the music teacher that I'd stolen some equipment from her; two tiny cymbals. Over the summer before, a friend of the family that was a belly dancer gave me a set of tiny cymbals for my birthday. And how Jessica did covet them. At lunch that day, my friend Michelle (who ended up being one of the most tried and true people in my entire life) gave me the scoop. I didn't have music class until the next day, so I had time to contemplate what had happened. I didn't know what to say or do. I told my mom, and she was ready to storm down and proclaim my innocence to the world. Later that night, after thinking about it over dinner, I told my mom she didn't have to do anything. That I would find a way to handle this myself.

My mom tells me that she was so proud of me that I said this, but that she was nervous as to what I would do. I never noticed any of it, as I was strategizing over how I was going to tell Mrs. Quist at the beginning of class the next day. How would I say it. I went to bed with a knot in my stomach. Jessica said she could prove that I had stole them! Mrs Quist, according to Michelle, looked like she was believing Jessica (after all, Jessica's mom was well-connected in the school)!

Much to my surprise the next day, I ran into Mrs Quist in the bathroom. Through the cracks of the stalls, I could see her go into the next one, and my pulse ran hard. I finished what I was doing, went to the sink, washed my hands, tried to calm down, realizing that this was my moment.

A moment later, Mrs. Quist stepped out from the stall. I started with, "Mrs. Quist?" and ended with, "but if you like, if you have a concert you need to use them for, I would be glad to lend you mine..." Mrs. Quist politely said "Oh... It'll be fine without it. I'm sorry I doubted you." and quietly left the bathroom.

It was never brought up again.

Just as a note: Jessica continued trying to be Miss Popular, but by the time we were halfway through middle school, her conniving ways had gotten the better of her, and she really didn't have many friends. I still wonder what happened to my friend that she would turn on me like that.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is to feel this one out. Ask Bailey what he would like to do about it, if possible. Running interference is a tricky game. Of course, none of this matters if his at-school punishments begins and ends with today, but I'm a firm believer that kids need to be given the tools to handle their problems, and the willingness to do something about them. Nurture it!

There are times in my life today where I see myself not doing something about bad situations, sometimes waiting until things are way too late. I'm trying to recover the finesse and bravado I seemed to have as a 4th grader. Hehe.

Anyhow, after that long ramble --- Here's what I'm doing.

Typing away aimlessly on the LoT trying to pass a little time while taking a breather in the computer lab at school!