Why tigers eat their young...

Well I finally heard from another teacher on Friday afternoon.
The A-man’s Religion teacher did call, and she told me that the A-man was doing very well in class. She was aware of his IEP and she didn’t really have any concerns at this time. I provided her with my home email address and let her know that I would really appreciate it if I could be kept informed of how he is progressing.

When I got home on Friday night, I was waiting for the A-man to tell me about his conversation with the Math teacher. He wasn’t forthcoming with any of the information, so after a while I just asked him outright if he’d talked with Mr. M. He says to me, “Yeah, I did. I had to miss the script reading in Drama, so thanks for that, Mom.” Now I’m the bad guy.

Anyway, after talking with the teacher, the A-man indicated that he would like to remain in the mixed class this semester (so that he can learn the fundamentals) and then take the Uni stream next semester. Basically, this means he would have Math for the full year but really only end up with one credit. I’m not so sure I like this idea. I asked when he was next meeting with the guidance teacher, and he told me that it’s on Tuesday. I expressed a desire to attend the meeting and was told, “Oh great – so you just want to come and force yourself in to my life again.”

EXCUSE ME?! I force my opinions on his life?

I explained that I would like to use the meeting time as an opportunity to learn of the various options, not as a way to FORCE my thoughts and opinions on him and his life, but he didn’t seem convinced. When I told Hubby about the A-man idea, he didn’t seem to think it made a whole lot of sense either. Other the weekend I talked to my Mom a wee bit about it, and Hubby and I discussed it a bit more. We still aren’t sure that this is the most advisable step, but I think it will be helpful to have a meeting with the guidance department to confirm what types of courses would be required for the career path the A-man thinks he would like to follow at this time. If the guidance department doesn’t think it’s that big a deal to have him take Math each semester, then I guess that is what he will do, but I also want to know for sure that he is fully aware of the other courses that he could be picking up this semester if he chose to stop taking math right now.

Last night I asked the A-man if he wanted to practice his monologue for his Drama audition. You would have thought I’d asked for the right to name his first born with the way that he carried on. I was “forcing him to do stuff he’d already done” and then I was “invading his privacy” when I looked into his folder…it was crazy! I suggested that perhaps he might want to consider going to bed.

This morning I told him that I did not appreciate the manner he spoke to me, and he seemed surprised that I was upset with him. He said “I didn’t speak with a bad attitude to you, Mom.” I suggested that perhaps he look at the words and the tone that he uses before he denies being rude. I think his hormones must be acting a little crazy right now.

S was moving a wee bit slow this morning. He was just having a piece of fruit when I realized that his bus was at the end of the lane, so he had to rush to get out the door. After he left I realized that he had left his clarinet behind. Fortunately, the A-man was able to take it for him.

S really seems to be enjoying his music class. He has taught himself the “In the Jungle” song on the clarinet just by having someone tell him that the song starts in the Key of G. I am really hoping that he will start to get his fingers limbered up on the keyboard again – he was very good playing the piano, so both Hubby and I are hoping that his love of playing music will continue to grow and begin to encompass other instruments. He really is quite talented when it comes to both reading and playing music.

I’m having a baby shower this coming weekend, so I have a bit to get ready for that. I picked up a cute little photo album and I’m going to get pictures of each guest with the baby and then get Hubby to print the pictures out before everyone leaves so then the Mom will have a nice keepsake at the end of the day. I also want to make a centre-piece ‘cake’ that I had seen at another shower a number of months ago – it is made with diapers rolled up to make it look like a tiered cake. I plan on getting the main supplies tonight so that I can get started on the layout.

Hubby has a bunch of computer jobs scheduled for this week, but I am just planning on doing my workouts and whatever else needs to be done around the house. I’m done with rushing for a while.