Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Not exactly what I meant...

I planned to post a recipe today but yesterday we got 8 inches of snow and had a snow day. We also still had a parent teacher conference in the evening that led to a rather 'interesting' conversation.

Isaac has been having a rather frustrating year because he is basically a well-behaved and respectful kid but he has 2 extremely strict teachers who penalize students for extremely minor infractions.

During parent teacher conferences the one teacher mentioned she can't stand having disorderly lines of students (Isaac tells me they have to line up in height order and stay in perfectly straight alignment) and she gets annoyed because Isaac fiddles with his football too much on the way to and from recess (and yes, he and the football can become irritating). He finds her need for perfect lines aggravating (Who wouldn't?).

During the car ride home with Isaac and Diana, I was trying to let him know that everyone has their pet peeves in life that tend to get blown out of proportion and said,



"You each have issues that drive each other insane. Her lines make YOU crazy. Your balls make HER crazy."



A momentary silence fell over the car, followed by a snort from Diana in the backseat. Then all hell broke loose as Isaac nearly hyperventilated while laughing and I almost veered into a tree trying to regain composure.

26 comments:

Jim said...

What? I don't get it . . .

XO

S said...

Sheayahhhhhh!! Forget the recipes for today...we needed to hear this!

I'd say that teacher is in dire need of a broomhandleectomy!

SignGurl said...

I snorted too, when I read this!! My girls and I have a standing ball/nut joke. We can't hear either of those words without losing it.

What is it with the super strict middle school teachers? My youngest got a detention for picking a book up off the floor for another student. They said she was being insubordinate. I assure you, this child is one of the best behaved kids I've ever come across. Grrr...

G-Man said...

Isn't it great when your kids write your posts for you?..LOL
Have a great day Trini!
xoxox

airplanejayne said...

too funny!

Okay - I don't have strict rules about lines...or picking up books....or even having a pencil! No problem. My room is always full of movement and sound. We're fine.

But God-forbid one of them does one of the following:
1. roll eyes at me
2. tell me, "Whatever."
3. Do a combination of #1 & #2.

CozyMama said...

hi


WOW - I have been hearing WHATEVER come out of the almost 4 year olds mouth lately - and i wonder - is that my fault????

come see me. :)

Hypersonic said...

Oh man I just sprayed coke over the monitor.

Seriously though, this teacher shouldn't even be teaching. Since when have perfectly straight lines in order of height, age etc. ever been an aid to knowledge.

It just goes toshow that school only gets in the way of learning.

cathy said...

I would have had to ask the teacher to explain how the line obsession was contributing to my child's education.
your balls story gave me the willies!

Anonymous said...

OK... I almost wanted the teacher to hear that too. LOL!

Anonymous said...

Yes people complain about people who use cell phones in the car as being dangerous but a couple of kids in the back is positively hazardous.
Cheers

Charles said...

I'd have to say there are more than a few teachers out there that need to be sent to the counselor. I had my problems with them growing up and I'd like to have better examples set for the kids that are going to be the future of our planet. I think you should talk to the principal. Failing any progress there, the school board would be a good place to send a letter.

ALRO said...

Shhhhh!! Don't say the "S" word!!!!
We haven't gotten any yet -- and i'm counting myself lucky!

Cooper said...

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....waya to go Mom. Nothing like a little unintended innuendo to lighten of the situation..
As for the Wicked Witch of the West...she's probably tenured...and people wonder why American schools are failing our kids....

Anonymous said...

Ha! Good one, mom!

TorAa said...

What the hech, is it a Military school? Can't kids be kids anymore?
They need to be teached the beauty of a straight line - like in Math - not for bad behaviour - grrr.
Give such teachers to the Lions.

PS. My Wife is a Teacher - she knows how to inspire her young "pupils" to make a straight line - it's funny and:
Hurray, we made it

Anonymous said...

SNOW? snow?
Lol, that's so funny, at least he's laughing about her silliness.
tc

Jeni said...

Geez, even my 4th grade teacher - a very (and I do mean VERY) strict, prim and proper spinster lady back in the dark ages (1954-55) wasn't THAT wicked with us!

(M)ary said...

snow day...yippee??

here in Indiana it is 60 degree weather!

BTExpress said...

Damn, he must have some package! ;-)

Tell your kids that we all will have a boss (his teacher) that makes unreasonable demands, but we just have to deal with it until something else comes along (next year). They hold all the cards, so there's really nothing we can do.

That said, what a bitch she is! Line up by height? WTF is that all about?

Anonymous said...

Snow??? Already??? For someone who hypes up tropical Trinidad, you sure seem to live in the north pole! :P jk

You're all crazy though and you all know it. I can dig that! hahahahaha!

Mona said...

The teacher thing has been bugging my son too of the late. In India, they are the worst species for the children to contend with. They would torture you if you fail to take private tutions from them, not regarding the fact that they may be staying miles away from your place!

& there are some crazy women sexist teachers in his school who derive satisfaction in torturing the poor boys! All the boys of his class have the same complain!

tsduff said...

That is priceless! It will go down in the annals of your family stories I'm sure :D

Hope your snow day was more fun than you thought.

snowelf said...

How did you guys get snow and we didn't?

I guess I shouldn't complain since it's all snow all the time where I live. ;)

I laughed SO hard at this--now I have to share something. One holiday or a family dinner or something when Woobie was still little enough and had to sit in the high chair, we were at my mom's. She was trying to pull him out of the high chair but I had him buckled in. Well, my mom is pulling and pulling and she looks down and then goes

"Oh, I didn't know you had your strap on!"

We all just looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Happy Thanksgiving Lime and Company!!!! :)

--snow

Moosekahl said...

now THAT is a great line! God love you! Happy Thanksgiving, love!

Mother Theresa said...

That is downright hilarious. Rminds me of the time my husband was at the supermarket with the girls and they were fooling around with the eggs. He said, "No me toqueis los huevos" (don't touch my eggs), which in Spanish obviously has a double meaning. The cashier just laughed her head off.

Sudiegirl said...

OK - this warrants a Sudie's Mom story...

My mom grew up in the '50s, and they called hot dogs "tube steaks".

One night, my sister and I asked her what we were having for dinner, and she said, "tube steaks and beans".

We made "eew,ick" sounds and advised her that ZZ Top recorded a song called "Tube Steak Boogie" and the items in question weren't necessarily foodstuffs.

So we prompted her again, "What are we having for dinner?"

"Wieners".

AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!