Full-moon, rainy-day blues

What a strange day! I had boys streaming through my office all day long! Nothing major really. But weird silly boy stuff, I guess. Keep in mind that it was a full moon two days ago and it was raining all day long. Which may not excuse what happened, but may explain it...somewhat.

To start, three PreK/K boys were screaming at the top of their lungs because another boy called a girl his piece of paper. They thought it was something bad so they screamed. And screamed. The teacher sent them to me and told me to ask one of them what happened. I have to admit I was completely baffled when he told me the paper bit (he left out, at first, the screaming part). I just sat there and stared at him madly scrambling (in my mind) for what in the world to say to that and wondering if the teacher hadn't been affected by the moon as well. When the screaming part came out, I at at least understood the teacher's frustration. I also understood the teacher's delight and joy when the instigator of this terrorizing team of three hugged me on the way back to his classroom.

A sixth grader asked his teacher (who he admires and respects, usually) "Why are you talking?" in response to the teachers same question of him.

Two seventh graders were tussling with each other so loudly and wildly over a notebook that their teacher sent them down to me to settle what he didn't have time to deal with at the moment.

An eighth grader twice took himself out of his classroom when he felt frustrated with his teacher and came down to work in my office where it was quiet and he could concentrate. this is the same boy who spent four days working in my office last week and another day the week before and two days at the beginning of October. He says he doesn't want to be in the office with me, but he always gets work done and he's more at peace because I play music and talk with him about his future...and I think he secretly likes it there. I don't mind, but I don't get as much work done when he's there. Oh wait. That is my work, isn't it?

A second grader was sent down to work in the office where it is quiet (ha!) because he was getting distracted in his classroom. I had to put him in the teacher's workroom because it was quite crowded in my office and the front office.

This went on just about all day long. I couldn't get over it. Then, when I thought I'd try to go home earlier than usual, I looked at my calendar and saw I was supposed to have elementary faculty meeting. Well, I knew they would relish an early release, so I went upstairs and talked individually with each of them instead, letting them leave at least 1 1/2 hours earlier than if we had had a meeting. By the time I got back downstairs, I had spent well over an hour talking with three of the four teachers. That was time well spent, though, and something I am tryhing to do more of anyway. My dad used to do that all the time and I remember thinking to myself what a great way to maintain healthy staff relationships. I do that with some of the staff (the women) easily enough, but the men are another story. I'm working on things there...

So, I walked into my office to find a beautiful bouquet of flowers on my desk filling the office (that an hour earlier had been overpowering with the smell of boys) with a strong-but-sweet aroma. I asked Diane where they had come from and she said that when Sandy had driven a group of students to the "T" (train station), a mother had been waiting for the van (and her son) with the flowers to send back to me! Well, if you could see this mother and her son, you would understand my wonder and amazement. A few years ago, the two were in a car accident that resulted in the mother going into a coma for two years and the son becoming almost catatonic. Within the past several months, the woman's husband died as well as her husband. The boy, actually man, as he's 20 now, does not speak more than a word in a day. He rarely makes eye contact, and there is almost never even a spark of recognition in those eyes. He often won't go to class, but just sits in the lobby staring straight ahead. I have tried over and over to convince the mother that he does not belong here, that we can't do anything for him. But she refuses to listen. She wants him in a Christian school where he feels safe and loved (and the students are truly lovely to him, all on their own). The last conversation we had, I was trying to tell her that he should go somewhere else, that he would never finish high school with us. She was very upset with me and I felt awful about upsetting her, even though I felt I should tell her the truth.

And now she sends me flowers. Amazing end to a very strange day.

Pictures are not of any students mentioned above!