As you may recall, we took the Boychild out of the bastard teacher’s class a couple of months ago, and he was assigned to a different teacher. There were some procedural things he had to get used to in her class for the first few weeks, and I did have one “sorting things out” phone call with her when I sent in a nastygram regarding the quality of the daily communications we were receiving from her (ie. I can’t fucking FIX the problem if you don’t tell me exactly what it is). And things were fine, he even managed to get a fairly respectable report card a couple of weeks ago (2 As, 2Bs, and 2 Cs).
Today New Teacher calls me, with something approaching a hysterical note in her voice. Boychild was assigned to write a “story” in advance of his upcoming field trip to Animal Kingdom (remember when “field trip” meant going to the nearest park for the day? me too.), it was assigned weeks ago and he apparently had done nothing on it. She’s shrill, and speaking rapidly, and sounds just generally very upset.
Then she tells me she has the Boychild there with her, so I ask to speak with him. What’s going on, where’s the fucking report, etc. etc., I ask him. It’s in the classroom, he says…and I can hear New Teacher gabbling, “I specifically asked you if it was in the classroom and you said it wasn’t!” Gabbling, I tell you. So I get her back on the phone and she says, we really need to have a conference. Boy, do we, I reply. What time is good for you and your husband, she asks. After 4PM, I say. And the gabbling resumes… We LEAVE at 3:15, we aren’t HERE at 4PM! (One wonders if that’s the Royal “we.”) Oh wait, there’s a book fair on Thursday, I can see you at 6PM. Great, 6PM it is.
Is it just me? Has the requirement that schoolteachers A) HANDLE the kids in their classrooms, and B) establish their AUTHORITY over the kids in their classroooms, been tossed out the fucking window? Yes, she has 20 other little fuckers in that class to deal with…and do not shit yourself, ten year olds are FUCKERS…but gotdamn, the Boychild is not Trouble, he’s just a mite lazy, something any halfway competent teacher could deal with without a whingy call to the boy’s mother. Gee, thanks, lady, with that smooth move you just handed all your power in his eyes over to ME. And I’m fucking well not getting paid to teach your class.
Same story, different day. I swear, it’s going to be like this through college, isn’t it? I’m going to have to talk his Sociology 101 prof down off the ledge because the Boychild disagreed with his analysis of socio-economic relationships between Wii consoles and fluffy bunnies.
Update: Ok, that is bloody well it! No more seeds, dammit! Well, after these, from Heirloom Seeds…
- DIPPER GOURD
- SNAKE GOURD
- AMARILLO ORO MELON
- WHITE CRENSHAW MELON
- EARLY PROLIFIC STRAIGHTNECK SQUASH
- LEBANESE WHITE BUSH
- BASIL, LEMON
- CREAM OF SASKATCHEWAN WATERMELON
- SWEET PICKLE PEPPER
- ANCHO PEPPER
- JALAPENO PEPPER
- SERRANO PEPPER
- LITTLE FINGER CARROT
As I told a despairing Husband, at least it’s a CHEAP hobby.