Today's whiny special: I DID so tell you so!
Special ed programs -- BAH!
Teenagers -- GROAN!
I'm amazed at the general stupidity that results among teachers, at least partly, from lack of funding. A month or two ago, Younger Child's special ed teacher was on a mission to help him with organizational difficulties. Today, after several weeks of the kid running amuk with homework (doing too much on some, not enough on others, not organized, not turning it in, perseverating ...) I find out that he was not doing anything with organizational skills, because this kid and others were having too much trouble in Algebra and tutoring was eating up the resource hour.
Can I say I told you so???
Then teacher, in the same breath, points out that the kid is working so hard because he was told he had to get his grades up before he could do after school activities. As if we were being too strict.
The grade in question was a D. Personally, I think it's rather unkind of us to insist that he pass his high school classes, don't you?
We asked them to give Younger Child two study periods during the day. But no. Someone thought he could handle a full day of advanced, college prep classes.
So the kid whines today: "my plans for the future have been blown apart." (OK, he loves drama. He's 14.) He no longer knows if he wants to go to college. A few pre-AP classes have done him in.
Still, his gem of a dad tells the kid that his latest school paper -- which, while not bad, is full of rambling personal observations, cliches, and wandering sentences that have little or nothing to do with the topic -- would get an "A-" in college.
Which is why I insisted during the divorce, on leaving his dad out of as much of his schooling as possible, for as long as possible. One way or another, he'll find a way to make the kid unhappy with school, life. This is the man who thought it was funny to send autistic preschooler crying around the house thinking mommy had left when she'd only gone downstairs to the laundry. He lies, does whatever he thinks will make him look like a "Big Man" in the kids' eyes.
I told them so on that one too.
At least he isn't threatening to kill us. This week. He's sort of taking the ups and downs more in stride at the moment, and I'm grateful for that.
So now I'm headed home to make a nice dinner for my little family. I hope that some sanity will prevail for the evening, at least. That's my only parenting goal now: keep some sanity, and maybe if I'm lucky, some affection alive.
The rest is rather meaningless.