Looking forward to the start of the school year....

I am the kind of parent that enjoys being a parent. Meaning, I take my job seriously. I do not wish to put my babies out into the world and expect the village to help raise them. I've run into too many village idiots to be ok with that scenario. I want to partner with my kids' schools and make sure that A) my children are doing the best they can possibly do, and B) the instructors do the best they can do for my children.

Here is an example of my frustration with the educators my son has had in the past. I have not altered or changed anything except for the identifying information. My commentary is in pink. Makes me a bit teary-eyed.

-----Original Message-----
From: CrazyMama@work.com
Sent: September 25, 2008 8:49 AM
To: 6thgradeteacher@school.com
Cc: Behavioral_interventionist@privateagency.org
Subject: My Kid

Dear 6Th Grade Teacher:
My Kid did not complete any of his homework last night. He is cycling rapidly
right now & his doctor is trying to adjust his meds (read: punching holes in walls and melting down easily).
If we do not get the cycling under control soon, we may be looking at a hospitalization. I wanted to
let you know what is going on right now so you can understand why his homework
isn't complete.

When he isn't stable (typically occurs this time of year for him), homework is a huge challenge for us to get him to complete. Is there anyway we can hold off on the homework assignments until we can get him
more stabilized? It is a huge source of stress in the evenings for him & sets him off very easily.

Please let me know you thoughts. I appreciate all you guys are doing for him and I am really hopeful that he will have a good opportunity this year to get on track academically. This is the first time he has been in classes with the same grade level students.

Regards,

Crazy Mama

-----Original Message-----
From: 6thgradeteacher@school.com
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 12:53 PM
To: CrazyMama@work.com
Subject: RE: My Kid

I think that Your Kid is having tough times wit meds, but Your Kid only hmwrk when
he doesn't complete in class wrk. I think Your Kids choosing not to wrk. He is
constantly drawing dragons, and other things. When we ask him to wrk he shuts
down. We are needing grades so he has to complete something. So incourage him
please..
(Ok, really? Speak English, not Text and there is a thing called spellcheck. Not to mention the fact that asking me to "incourage" a kid to come out of his world when his moods are all over the place is RIDICULOUS and NAIVE).
-----Original Message-----
From: Crazy Mama
Sent: Friday, September 26, 2008 9:31 AM
To: 6th Grade Teacher
Cc: Behavioral Interventionist
Subject: RE: My Kid

6th Grade Teacher:
Thank you very much for your comments. I understand your frustration with the
incomplete class work, however, if encouragement was all it took, I'm sure
we can all agree My Kid would be extremely successful due to the large quantities
of encouragement he receives at home and at school. The lack of focus is a
result of a medical condition that he is not in control of right now. Believe
me, we don't give him any leeway at home and hold him accountable for his
actions (or lack thereof). If I even suspect he is deflecting or trying to
divert our attention from the core issues, I call him on it. With all of that
being said, I think that right now he is not in the correct state of mind to
control his focus.

I received the ARD paperwork last night. I will send it back on Monday with
our signatures. My husband and I are trying to clear our schedules for that
day. I look forward to participating and learning more about your plans and
processes for this year in class so we can reinforce them at home. Both my
husband and I are looking forward to teaming up with you and your teaching group this
year.

As I said before, this is going to be the best opportunity for him to get on
track academically and we are committed to his success. We would just ask for
your continued patience as we work through this hiccup with the medications.

Regards,
Crazy Mama