TerryJ2
Well-Known Member
I feel like I'm living in a soap opera. But apparently this is Typical Teen stuff. (I have to keep looking at the calendar page on my wall, from a dr file that says, "Patient has two teenage children but no other abnormalities.")
So, the brouhaha last wk with-difficult child and his "friends" turned out to be a bigger deal because the one kid who wasn't supposed to stay overnight is living with-his grandmother--court mandated, according to difficult child--because his mom does coke and his dad does heroin. Or maybe it's the other way around. (Does it matter?) And they're divorced. And he is not supposed to visit his mom for obvious reasons, in addition to which, she gives him $ which he uses for pot. (Considering her example, I'm sure he'll graduate to her level any day now.) So that's why the grandmother had such a fit when he was out of the house and she had no idea where he was.
difficult child is not one bit worried about anyone beating him up on the way home for being a snitch (I called him every 5 min nearly every day when school ended) because no one got into trouble. They just got yelled at.
"So, when a mom yells at you but you don't get grounded or lose your phone, then you really aren't in trouble?"
"Right."
Good to know.
He chose his science project: video games.
A permission slip came home. I'm supposed to sign, to show my approval of his project partner. A girl I've never met. The title: "Video games." That's all. No other info.
difficult child refused to get off of the game Wed and Thur because he insisted it was his science project and he was measuring levels. (Yeah, the level of my tolerance and temper!!!)
I emailed the teacher and said, "This just gives him school approved permission to game all the time!"
She emailed back, "Call me."
Whew. Once she started to talk, she was quite the chatterbox.
She's not the world's best teacher, much less science teacher, but the info she gave me was useful. She said she cannot force any student to do anything, much less not game at home, but she suggested that since he was measuring the level of alertness or fatigue that a gamer would get from hrs of gaming, and how it affected the score, (how the h*ll am I supposed to know that when there is no other description?) it should be done only on weekends. He agreed to that. And since I don't want to stay up all night, and don't want to take his word for anything, I have to come up with-another way to check ...
"Ooohh," I said, "By waking him up early in the a.m. on Sat and Sun as though it's a regular school day, to check his level of fatigue."
The teacher said, "And then maybe he'll change his mind and choose another project. It's not too late."
She also said she has moved his seat twice this week. "He used to sit with-a bunch of boys," (I know EXACTLY which group, unfortunately) but I think he's got a honey."
"I think he's got a whole bunch of honeys," I laughed.
She said he talks a lot and then turns sideways and leans on the board, a typical teen behavior. So she moved him again.
He came home yesterday at the normal time, instead of staying after to catch up on math and science. He tried to run into the house with-o my seeing him as I drove up, but I honked the horn. Also, he lost his house key. He used to be sooooo good about carrying it, and easy child was the airhead, but now he's a typical teen, too ... anyway, we pretty much tried to beat one another to the TV cord, which I had forgotten to unplug and take last night, but at the last second, I veered and turned on the kitchen light. "So you can do your homework at the kitchen table," I said.
He stopped in his tracks. "Yeah, that's what I was going to do, too," he said. "Turn on the light and do my homework.
I stood sentry between the kitchen and LR until he finished his 3 worksheets and did the dishes.
Gotta love it.
So, the brouhaha last wk with-difficult child and his "friends" turned out to be a bigger deal because the one kid who wasn't supposed to stay overnight is living with-his grandmother--court mandated, according to difficult child--because his mom does coke and his dad does heroin. Or maybe it's the other way around. (Does it matter?) And they're divorced. And he is not supposed to visit his mom for obvious reasons, in addition to which, she gives him $ which he uses for pot. (Considering her example, I'm sure he'll graduate to her level any day now.) So that's why the grandmother had such a fit when he was out of the house and she had no idea where he was.
difficult child is not one bit worried about anyone beating him up on the way home for being a snitch (I called him every 5 min nearly every day when school ended) because no one got into trouble. They just got yelled at.
"So, when a mom yells at you but you don't get grounded or lose your phone, then you really aren't in trouble?"
"Right."
Good to know.
He chose his science project: video games.
A permission slip came home. I'm supposed to sign, to show my approval of his project partner. A girl I've never met. The title: "Video games." That's all. No other info.
difficult child refused to get off of the game Wed and Thur because he insisted it was his science project and he was measuring levels. (Yeah, the level of my tolerance and temper!!!)
I emailed the teacher and said, "This just gives him school approved permission to game all the time!"
She emailed back, "Call me."
Whew. Once she started to talk, she was quite the chatterbox.
She's not the world's best teacher, much less science teacher, but the info she gave me was useful. She said she cannot force any student to do anything, much less not game at home, but she suggested that since he was measuring the level of alertness or fatigue that a gamer would get from hrs of gaming, and how it affected the score, (how the h*ll am I supposed to know that when there is no other description?) it should be done only on weekends. He agreed to that. And since I don't want to stay up all night, and don't want to take his word for anything, I have to come up with-another way to check ...
"Ooohh," I said, "By waking him up early in the a.m. on Sat and Sun as though it's a regular school day, to check his level of fatigue."
The teacher said, "And then maybe he'll change his mind and choose another project. It's not too late."
She also said she has moved his seat twice this week. "He used to sit with-a bunch of boys," (I know EXACTLY which group, unfortunately) but I think he's got a honey."
"I think he's got a whole bunch of honeys," I laughed.
She said he talks a lot and then turns sideways and leans on the board, a typical teen behavior. So she moved him again.
He came home yesterday at the normal time, instead of staying after to catch up on math and science. He tried to run into the house with-o my seeing him as I drove up, but I honked the horn. Also, he lost his house key. He used to be sooooo good about carrying it, and easy child was the airhead, but now he's a typical teen, too ... anyway, we pretty much tried to beat one another to the TV cord, which I had forgotten to unplug and take last night, but at the last second, I veered and turned on the kitchen light. "So you can do your homework at the kitchen table," I said.
He stopped in his tracks. "Yeah, that's what I was going to do, too," he said. "Turn on the light and do my homework.
I stood sentry between the kitchen and LR until he finished his 3 worksheets and did the dishes.
Gotta love it.
