(no subject)
It was half past four when Guppy swung open the school gates. The playground was fairly quiet; most of the children went home at three, with a few staying for After-School Club. Around their work commitments they usually managed to juggle it so that Alex only had to stay late twice a week. Not that he seemed to mind particularly so long as he was expecting it.
"You're Fry's Dad, right?" One of the other parents comes up behind him. She looks quite tired, and Guppy can't help but wonder what Fry has, on this occasion, done.
"Yes, I don't think we've met before though." Guppy says. He knows all the parents in Fry's class now. Some of them were curious about him, others apprehensive at first that he would be disruptive. Fortunately the latter doesn't seem to have been the case; if anything, the teachers have difficulty stopping Fry from studying and getting him to go to free play.
"I'm Joseph's mum, he's in the class above Fry." the woman says. "Just someone told me you were a doctor and I figured with Fry you'd know about development issues..."
Guppy pauses and tries to remember who Joseph is.
"Very light blonde hair, about this high?"
"Yes, that's him." Joseph's mum says. She explains her concerns - apparently Joseph likes to play with dolls and wear princess costumes and keeps telling her he's a girl and this worries her.
"Sorry, my wife's not into gender roles." he says. "Both of my kids play with boys and girls' toys. I'd let him be if I were you."
"You'd let Alex go out in a dress?" Joseph's mum asks, with a look of schepticism.
"To be honest, I'm just glad he's past the age where he takes all his clothes off in public." Guppy says.
They head into the After School Club (Guppy senses that she doesn't entirely approve of his answer) and he looks around. Joseph is sitting at a table, with crayons, drawing a sun, a cloud, and a pink flower. On the table are three more drawings identical to the one he's doing. His Mum goes straight to him and tells him to get his coat, but he insists on finishing his drawing first, no matter how irate she gets, then starts to cry when she takes it away. Fry doesn't acknowledge his entry, but is in the Home Corner, running his finger down the stripes on the cover of a kiddie ironing board.
"Ah, Dr Sandhu, we've got a letter for you. Head injury form." Mrs Hewitt, Alex's class teacher says, coming up to him.
Guppy takes the letter without any great alarm. A head injury form is mostly a legal formality for when the child bumps their head, rather than any indication of severity. Fry used to bring them home daily from his first nursery when he was going through his head-banging phase. Mostly now he gets them from clumsiness, a trait he unfortunately seems to have inherited from his father.
'Name: Alexander Sandhu
Class: Nursery 1
Nature of injury: Bruise to forehead (see diagram)
Mechanism of injury: Attempted to headbutt another pupil, banged head on their chin. (see reverse)
First aid given: Cold compress attempted, but he curled up under a table and wouldn't let us near him. We kept an eye on him and he came out ten minutes later, back to his usual self.'
Guppy grimaces at the headbutt part, and turns the page over.
'The playground moniter heard Fry shout "You're nicked sunbeam!" in a Manchester accent, grab the other child by the shirt, and attempt to headbutt him. When we questioned Fry afterwards, he said the other child had threatened to cut his head off.
We questioned the other children, who were from an older class and don't know Fry well, and found that they had been playing a game of 'Oranges and Lemons'. Fry came along and went through the tunnel of hands with the other children. When they got to the line 'And here comes a candle to light you to bed, and here comes a chopper to chop off your head', the children forming the bridge brought their hands down on Fry's shoulders. Then he shouted and headbutted one of them. We have explained to the other children that this was a misunderstanding and reminded them that Fry doesn't like to be touched. We have told Fry that if he feels threatened again he should come and tell a teacher.
- Matthew Leek, Teaching Assistant.'
"Sorry." Guppy says, looking back up at Mrs Hewitt. "It looks like you've managed to sort it out here though."
"It's no problem." Mrs Hewitt reassures him. "We're just keeping you informed. Fry's classroom behaviour improves by the day, and he's a delight to teach. He just finds the long lunch break difficult because he doesn't know how to play with other children."
Guppy glances down. Fry has appeared at his feet, without greeting him, and is tugging at his shoelaces.
"Hey Fry. What did we say about arresting people?"
"Don't."
"That's right. Say goodbye to your friends."
Fry glances around. Nope, not spotting any friends. Most of the children seem to keep a cautious distance from him, having discovered that touching him gets them screamed at or thumped.
"Say goodbye." Guppy prompts, starting to get an idea of what he's thinking.
"Goodbye." Fry says.
They pick up his homework folder, with a book to read in it, then head towards the car.
"I don't want you headbutting people." Guppy says, when they're in the car. "It's dangerous."
"Gene does it." Fry says.
"That doesn't make it okay... wait, when did you see Gene headbutt someone?"
"It was... a Monday." Fry says. "We had fish fingers."
Guppy sighs and ponders for a moment. Gene was babysitting in an emergency so he can't really complain. He'll have to ask about that though. He turns the car into the driveway, then goes into the back and lets Fry out.
"C'mere." he says, taking him through to the back garden and kneeling down to be on his level.
"Now listen Fry. I was bullied at school as a kid. So I'm never going to tell you that you can't defend yourself if you feel unsafe, okay? But I'm going to teach you how to block people without hurting them. It's like waving."
They practice for about twenty minutes, then role play different scenarios. Fry's not good at pretending, but he picks up the action quite quickly.
"Daddy, why do people say things that are wrong?" Fry asks eventually.
"Um... well, sometimes people tell a lie because they want to trick someone. Sometimes they make a mistake. And sometimes it's just a story or a game, just pretending for fun. Oranges and Lemons is a game."
Fry gives him the 'your explanation is too complicated' look, turns and wanders off inside.
"You're Fry's Dad, right?" One of the other parents comes up behind him. She looks quite tired, and Guppy can't help but wonder what Fry has, on this occasion, done.
"Yes, I don't think we've met before though." Guppy says. He knows all the parents in Fry's class now. Some of them were curious about him, others apprehensive at first that he would be disruptive. Fortunately the latter doesn't seem to have been the case; if anything, the teachers have difficulty stopping Fry from studying and getting him to go to free play.
"I'm Joseph's mum, he's in the class above Fry." the woman says. "Just someone told me you were a doctor and I figured with Fry you'd know about development issues..."
Guppy pauses and tries to remember who Joseph is.
"Very light blonde hair, about this high?"
"Yes, that's him." Joseph's mum says. She explains her concerns - apparently Joseph likes to play with dolls and wear princess costumes and keeps telling her he's a girl and this worries her.
"Sorry, my wife's not into gender roles." he says. "Both of my kids play with boys and girls' toys. I'd let him be if I were you."
"You'd let Alex go out in a dress?" Joseph's mum asks, with a look of schepticism.
"To be honest, I'm just glad he's past the age where he takes all his clothes off in public." Guppy says.
They head into the After School Club (Guppy senses that she doesn't entirely approve of his answer) and he looks around. Joseph is sitting at a table, with crayons, drawing a sun, a cloud, and a pink flower. On the table are three more drawings identical to the one he's doing. His Mum goes straight to him and tells him to get his coat, but he insists on finishing his drawing first, no matter how irate she gets, then starts to cry when she takes it away. Fry doesn't acknowledge his entry, but is in the Home Corner, running his finger down the stripes on the cover of a kiddie ironing board.
"Ah, Dr Sandhu, we've got a letter for you. Head injury form." Mrs Hewitt, Alex's class teacher says, coming up to him.
Guppy takes the letter without any great alarm. A head injury form is mostly a legal formality for when the child bumps their head, rather than any indication of severity. Fry used to bring them home daily from his first nursery when he was going through his head-banging phase. Mostly now he gets them from clumsiness, a trait he unfortunately seems to have inherited from his father.
'Name: Alexander Sandhu
Class: Nursery 1
Nature of injury: Bruise to forehead (see diagram)
Mechanism of injury: Attempted to headbutt another pupil, banged head on their chin. (see reverse)
First aid given: Cold compress attempted, but he curled up under a table and wouldn't let us near him. We kept an eye on him and he came out ten minutes later, back to his usual self.'
Guppy grimaces at the headbutt part, and turns the page over.
'The playground moniter heard Fry shout "You're nicked sunbeam!" in a Manchester accent, grab the other child by the shirt, and attempt to headbutt him. When we questioned Fry afterwards, he said the other child had threatened to cut his head off.
We questioned the other children, who were from an older class and don't know Fry well, and found that they had been playing a game of 'Oranges and Lemons'. Fry came along and went through the tunnel of hands with the other children. When they got to the line 'And here comes a candle to light you to bed, and here comes a chopper to chop off your head', the children forming the bridge brought their hands down on Fry's shoulders. Then he shouted and headbutted one of them. We have explained to the other children that this was a misunderstanding and reminded them that Fry doesn't like to be touched. We have told Fry that if he feels threatened again he should come and tell a teacher.
- Matthew Leek, Teaching Assistant.'
"Sorry." Guppy says, looking back up at Mrs Hewitt. "It looks like you've managed to sort it out here though."
"It's no problem." Mrs Hewitt reassures him. "We're just keeping you informed. Fry's classroom behaviour improves by the day, and he's a delight to teach. He just finds the long lunch break difficult because he doesn't know how to play with other children."
Guppy glances down. Fry has appeared at his feet, without greeting him, and is tugging at his shoelaces.
"Hey Fry. What did we say about arresting people?"
"Don't."
"That's right. Say goodbye to your friends."
Fry glances around. Nope, not spotting any friends. Most of the children seem to keep a cautious distance from him, having discovered that touching him gets them screamed at or thumped.
"Say goodbye." Guppy prompts, starting to get an idea of what he's thinking.
"Goodbye." Fry says.
They pick up his homework folder, with a book to read in it, then head towards the car.
"I don't want you headbutting people." Guppy says, when they're in the car. "It's dangerous."
"Gene does it." Fry says.
"That doesn't make it okay... wait, when did you see Gene headbutt someone?"
"It was... a Monday." Fry says. "We had fish fingers."
Guppy sighs and ponders for a moment. Gene was babysitting in an emergency so he can't really complain. He'll have to ask about that though. He turns the car into the driveway, then goes into the back and lets Fry out.
"C'mere." he says, taking him through to the back garden and kneeling down to be on his level.
"Now listen Fry. I was bullied at school as a kid. So I'm never going to tell you that you can't defend yourself if you feel unsafe, okay? But I'm going to teach you how to block people without hurting them. It's like waving."
They practice for about twenty minutes, then role play different scenarios. Fry's not good at pretending, but he picks up the action quite quickly.
"Daddy, why do people say things that are wrong?" Fry asks eventually.
"Um... well, sometimes people tell a lie because they want to trick someone. Sometimes they make a mistake. And sometimes it's just a story or a game, just pretending for fun. Oranges and Lemons is a game."
Fry gives him the 'your explanation is too complicated' look, turns and wanders off inside.