It Happened Part 1

I was driving back to work from Lowes on Friday, in deep thought about whether or not we should get a Bose home theater and my cell phone rang. Of course I didn't catch the call due to driving and my phone was buried in my purse of death! I finally got my phone from the bottom of the purse of death, looked at the caller i.d. and I see that the school called. Usually it is Zachary so I never call right back, but I did decided to listen to the voice mail and it was my sons teacher. "Ann Marie, Zach is not doing so well right now. Please call us back." My heart sank, the build up to an explosion was in the works and it finally happened. I called the school back and when I finally got through to the class room some other lady answered and 1/2 assedly told me what was going on. She never really gave me the information I wanted. So I hung up and proceeded to go back to work to handle this at my desk.

I was almost at work and my phone rang again. This time I knew who it was by the ring, it was Zachary. I answered the phone and he is hysterical on the other line, crying and very, very upset. I told him I would be there in a little while to get him he just needed to hang in there. I got back to work, called back the school and the same lady I hung up on answered the phone again. Ugh, how can I get away from her?? At this point and time I didn't want to talk to her and ask for his teacher. She kept wanting to talk to me and I finally said "If you don't put Nicole on the phone I will hang up on you again."

She put Nicole on the phone and I told her I did not need to deal with someone who seemed clueless to the situation. She said that I needed to come and get Zachary, that he could not go on the bus. So I left work wondering what the hell happened and why Zachary has taken a turn for the worse the last few months. Is there something wrong in that class, is the bad behavior of other children rubbing off, is he fed up?

Lunch Detention

Yesterday Z called me at work when he got home from school, like he does everyday. I start with my arsenal of questions, as I do everyday. How was school, what was for lunch and so on. My biggest question is always saved for last and that is what did you get for points today??

He replied with "85"!! I almost fell over, he has never gotten a score that low. So of course, anything under a 95 needs an explanation and not the answer "I don't know or I don't want to talk about it."

He said "I got a lunch detention for talking in my new math class." Oh boy I thought, thank goodness we are moving him back into mainstream slowly. So I asked why and he explained to me that he and another boy were talking about a math problem and the teacher gave them both, long with 7 other kids lunch detentions!!

Welcome back to the real world!

Parent Teacher Conference

as today...Z is doing great as I already knew. He still has a few things to work on such as trying not to be so competitive and not being so mouthy at times. He has straight B's, which I am very pleased with. Does very well in social studies and from what the teacher says, he takes great notes! YEAH!! Last year, notes writing, ummm, yeah right!

Starting in January he will start going to classes in the main part of the school. They will start slow and see how it all works out. Slow and steady wins the race..

Z..... hAd a BuMp in ThE rOad YesTerDay

Z had a little drama in school yesterday which resulted in a level drop. He had been on the highest level since a week into school. Bumps in the road happen and considering he has done such a wonderful job so far this school year I couldn't really be made at him. Plus being the only student to maintain a level three, I am pretty damn proud.

So yesterday during gym (I might add my son is very competitive in sports) he had a disagreement with another classmate. Seeing as Z doesn't like this kid it made it easier for him to be more argumentative. So Z got mad and left the gym as he was allowed to do last year. This year he can't use that as his "time out". That ended up giving him the level drop. When he lost his level he ran his mouth off about how stupid the class was, how much he hated it, he was going to ask me to pull him out, it was just like last year and so on.

He knows this year is different than last year. His teachers are trained to deal with children like Z. They have more patience and understanding. I feel it take a special person to be a special ed teacher. Last year it would have escalated and he would have found himself in the office immediately!

So, he cried a little, he was proud and made a mistake and let his anger get the best of him.

But he did pull himself together fairly quickly, within a 1/2 hour, held one of his favorite class pets, yup, they have pets! Talked it out and continued to have a fabulous day. If he continues to keep himself together he will have his level 3 a week from today.

What I am most proud of is, he actually talked to me about what happened, was very honest and upfront. Last year he wouldn't have talked to me about it at all. I told him I was proud of him for pulling himself together and that I know how hard it is to be civil to someone you don't like. (Z is very much my clone, just a boy version.) So I told him that he shouldn't let his displeasure for a person get the best of him.

Small but sweet victories! I love them...

Hope This Isn't A Set Back...

Z's counselor at school is pregnant with twins and has been told that she must stay off her feet for the last couple of months. Today at school they are having a little party for her. Last night Z and I went to the store and he got her a card for the class to sign and some flowers. He also made a pasta salad for the party..

This morning was a little crazy, we had to make sure he had everything that he needed before the bus came.

While he was getting his stuff together he said" Mrs. K will be gone for 6 months. I wish she didn't have to go."

I replied "Well, she needs to do what is best for her and the babies so she needs to."

He came back with " I know, I just don't like it. Why 6 months?"

So I asked him "Well, who do you think will take care of the babies if she doesn't?"

"I don't know" he replied "I just wish she didn't have to leave."

I feel bad for him, he has done so well so far and I would hate for him to fall back. I hope he had a chance to get to know the person who will be filling in for her.

I Received A Call From ...........School!

I felt my heart drop when I heard Z's teacher's voice on the other end. My first thought was "oh god, what did he do?" Pretty sad, isn't it?

His teacher proceeds to tell me that Z had done a much better job that expected so far. Sounds like even they were ready for the worst. She went on to say that for the most part he behaves well, gets a little silly once in a while but manages to pull himself together with cues and that he is VERY polite. Ummm...Come again? I couldn't be happier right now.

Funny thing is while we were eating dinner I told Z that his teacher called, he shook his head and said "What did I do?" I can't really blame him for that, he got in a lot of trouble last year and towards the end of the year I was called over every nit picking thing. I told him it was all positive, I was proud of him and I hoped he kept up the hard work.

So the first phone call of the year was very positive!

First Day Of School

So I got a call from Z's school counselor yesterday. She wanted to let m know that Z had a great first day!! Hurray!! Ummm ...one thing though, I would certainly hope so, it WAS the first day!! We would have big problems if he acted out on the first day of school. They acted like he performed a miracle, almost like he was not capable of having a great day. Come on now, I know he had a bad year last year but to act surprised about having a good day, Give the kid a little more credit, please.

Anywho, I am still proud of him. He received points off one time for making an inappropriate comment to another peer. He told him "Shut your pie hole"

So there are more problems at school

But, not with my son...thank god. My son has ADHD with Tourettes cause by stimulant medication that was treating the ADHD. He also has severe anger issues and auditory hallucinations. He sees his psychologist every month and a private counselor who both agree that he should not be treated for the ADHD at this time. I will only make the Tics worse. He is being treated for the others. So now the school is pissed off at me because I have not put him on the medication for the ADHD, they are always complaining that he is very impulsive and disruptive. But yet, the keep him in main stream classes. What am I supposed to do?????

West Hartford Cancels Veterans Day Off For Students

Everynight on my way home from work I listen to 106.9 WCCC's Picozzi In the Afternoon. As usual they were up to their usual antics and start talking about West Hartford, CT. I live in West Hartford so I turned my radio up so that I wouldn't miss a word. So anyways, they start talking about how West Hartford Schools will no longer have Veterans Day off. What is up with that?? They have swapped the day off with Election Day. I think it is a holiday that has been long standing and should not be changed. I know..I don't get the day off from work either.
I didn't get to read the letter to the editor but I guess it is due to parking issues. Parking issues!! There are parking issues at my job, I don't get to change things if I have to park at the end of the parking lot. Get a grip, there are parking issued just about everywhere you go.
Now I have never been proud to say I live in West Hartford, actually I think the town kinds sucks. My husband was raised in West Hartford and wanted to stay. Now I know for sure that it really sucks..

WHAT A WEEK!!!

WOW…were to start?!?!.....I have had one hell of a week. First time I have stopped to take the time to write anything….Let’s see


Tuesday: I get a call from school, my son found a cell phone and instead of turning it in, he took it home. Ok I can deal with that no problemo, well what is worse is he makes the phone his own. He deleted all the stuff AND added his own numbers, made a few calls and downloaded some stuff. It kills me to think that he knew this was wrong yet he chose to do it!!!

Wednesday: I get a call from school, he has been suspended for 3 days! He deserves it that is for sure. Def not what I wanted to hear, that’s for sure. So now he is in huge trouble at home!! I go home and decided that I needed to do a room sweep. Never found anything else BUT did discover that he was smoking….geez…what am I gunna do now? I started to smoke when I was his age (12) so I know I can’t scream and yell, especially consider in I still smoke 19 years later..

Thursday: Not so bad…been working ½ days due to Zachary’s suspension. I kinda like it actually!!

Friday: All is well, crazy days at work due to being on ½ days but it is manageable. Well Friday night was a little less to be desired. My husband who drinks a lot,(he is an alcoholic, knows it and of course does nothing but talk about how he wants to do something about it) and can act like an asshole went on one of his rants till about 2 am.

I will touch on each one of these another time...big punishments for my son and some equally big consequences for my husband are coming.