Events like the following really make me question the sanity of people.
Our son C. is a VERY active 8 year old. I would even venture to call him hyperactive. He is constantly in trouble at school for fidgeting, touching, disrupting, etc.
We (hubby & I) had a conference with his teacher a few weeks ago and discussed what is going on at school. He is a stellar student academically but his behavior is hindering his progress. We discussed some interventions we could try at school.
Last Friday his teacher got an exercise ball for him to sit on. This is a proven therapeutic technique for ADHD kids. It is used to satisfy their need to move around because they HAVE to move on the ball to stay balanced.
All day Friday he did well with the exercise ball. His behavior was very calm and quiet. Monday started out the same until the teacher had to step out of the room for 2 minutes. During these 2 minutes C. decided it would be fun to stab his pencil into the exercise ball.
The exercise ball popped.
The teacher emailed me yesterday about the situation and advised me that we would need to pay for the exercise ball. This seemed reasonable to us...our child maliciously damaged school property, right?
Last night hubby's ex-wife called him...she was MAD! The kids are with her this week so she received the note about paying for the exercise ball. Hubby and the ex discussed the situation, what happened, why, and what could be done to control his behavior. The results of THAT conversation though need to be devoted to their own blog post.
Anyhow, apparently their discussion did not calm her anger over having to pay for the exercise ball so she decided to send a note to the teacher relaying her feelings.
The note went something like this:
Ms. S.,
You are stupid. The whole damn school system is stupid. It was a stupid idea to have C. sit on an exercise ball. You should have called me for permission first. I would have told you "NO, that is a stupid idea". As far as the money goes, GOOD LUCK!
M.Can you believe that?
Who calls their child's teacher stupid? Or, the entire school system?
I am continually astounded at the childishness of this woman.
Maybe this isn't supposed to be funny...but its STINKIN' FUNNY! First of all, your poor son...he's doing what he can with the tools he's got...and when you think about it, its sort of seems like a good idea to a boy who is ALL boy to see what would happen if the pencil went into the ball. He curiosity is awesome. As for the "stupid" note...SO nice...so very very nice...that THIS is the example that a child gets from a parent. Talk about having behavioral control issues...somebody ELSE might need to get an excercise ball..TEE HEE!
ReplyDeleteThese things happen a lot. As a sped teacher and mom to 3 ADHD kids, there is always a strategy that doesn't work. Don't give up there will be a strategy that does work. Good luck! As for the note, there might be a reason that she is an ex. Praise goes to you!
ReplyDeleteYou are right, we thought about trying a stress ball initially but everyone's immediate reaction was "No, that will get thrown" lol. We will keep trying until we figure out what works! Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it :)
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