Gossip~

I have this parent who won't come in and talk to me. She goes right to the pricipals office and complains about stories her daughter comes home with. If one of my students were to come home and tell me these stories, I would have a difficult time believing them. I couldn't figure out why this mom was so against me. But this week after school while on bus duty I learned why.
Her daughter has been going to an afterschool daycare run by a nightmare mother from last year. Great! She is still a nightmare and her son is no longer in my class. She is brainwashing other parents.

This nightmare mother made my year a living hell last year. She is one of those moms who doesn't think her son should have consequences. She believes it is ok for him to run around, disrupt instruction, bother and tease other students, etc.. Luckily she is on my sister's team (inside joke).

This mom, who had never even met me, came in the week before school started (last year) and wanted him moved. She heard that I was "strict". Of course I had to laugh because everyone knows that I am the worlds biggest marshmellow. Anyway, the principal denied her request. You see there is a note sent home each Spring that lets parents know that if they have a request it needs to be turned in by the end of the school year.
Of course this mom believes that she is the exception to every rule. Seeming how she didn't get her way, she nit picked at everything. Her son was one of the most challenging students I have had. She can't even control him. I really hope she figures something out before he is a teenager or she is in real trouble!

Regardless, I hate how parents gossip about teachers, word spreads like wildfire. I also hate how some parents mistake structure and consistency with being strict or mean. Their child is not going to learn if they are not in control of their body. Nor are the students around them.

I find it amazing that when one child is removed from the room, it is like night and day.
It seems like every year the kids get harder and harder. There seems to be less and less follow through and parental support.
It is also sooooo hard to compete with the WII.

So thank you to the parents who support their students' teacher, give the teacher the benefit of the doubt (especially when their child comes home with crazy lies), follow through at home, and actually have structure at home (so that their child isn't in shock when they come to First Grade)!!!!