A Full Day

Today was the day before fall break--yay! It was also the day of fall parties at Klondike. The kids got their faces painted, made bats out of black socks with paper wings, and ate A TON of sugar. It is really smart of teachers to have these parties the last hour of the day before break, because achieving calmness afterwards is impossible. I think they will be buzzing for days to come.

Jesse, one of the little boys in Alex's class (and a real character), turned me into a vampire. He approached me with his sock bat, Brutus, and said, "Want to be vampire? It doesn't hurt and it doesn't even cost anything!" And then he made Brutus bite me. So if you see me after dark, look out.

Today was also the day of Alex's mom's parent-teacher conference. Apparently, his parents are concerned because all of his schoolwork is done in his own handwriting. Why is this concerning, you ask? Shouldn't it be good news that their child is able to do his own work? According to his mom, "Writing is hard for him and he shouldn't do so much of it." I tried to tell her that he never asks me for help, and that I watch him and he doesn't seem to be struggling, and if either of those happened, I would help him. Her answer: "Yes, well, he needs to learn he can't do as much as he thinks he can. He tries to do too much and wears himself out." Then she smiled really sweetly and said she would "let" me use my "best discretion" on how often to help him. I was told by the teacher that I need to start writing for him more because they're "doing a lot to please Mom right now" and I just need to go with it.

I feel like this is utterly beyond ridiculous. It's counter-educational. I work with Alex on a daily basis, and he is fully capable of writing his own work. Entirely and completely. Motor skills are harder for him, and he does write slower than average for his age, but not to a point where he's not completing tests on time or lagging really far in his daily work. Not even lagging at all. He's almost never the first one done, but he's not the last one, either. I know this is something he's had to work up to, also. To take that away from him, to discourage him in his acheivement and tell him he's slower and dumber than he truly is, is the opposite of teaching. It's degrading and demeaning and just plain stupid. What does she expect him to be as a man if he grows up thinking that everything is going to be handed to him because he's "special" and "some things are hard" and he's going to "wear himself out" if he tries? Paras are the lowest rung on the ladder, so there is not really much I can do about it, but it rankles.

Last night we had our first tiny group. It was good. I think it will be even better when we have smaller sections to cover and we can go more in depth. It was strange, though, because I felt like I talked too much, which happens to me....never.

Tomorrow I'm headed to Ohio to visit Abby! I am excited to see her and hear how her ministry is going. My mom is worried because I'm driving through the country by myself. You know, that dangerous, desolate Indiana-Ohio countryside, full of bandits and miscreants and ne'er-do-wells. My mom is extremely safety-conscious for her children. I really want to be a laid-back mom.

Well...that's all, folks!