Food fight
[Written by Brittany Wallman]
Got another call from the school. Let me observe that I'm getting to know the middle school teachers without having to attend PTA meetings.This time it was an assistant vice principal (there seem to be many of these), who said my son threw food (a noodle, as it turns out) at someone in the cafeteria.
He didn't consider, she said, the fact that this could lead to an all-out food fight. You see, every destructive, anti-social food fight starts with ... just ... one ... noodle.
They're giving him three days of in-school suspension.
That's fine, I told her. Do you have any recommendations on how my husband and I can follow through at home to stop these INCESSANT PHONE CALLS? I asked kindly. You see, I continued, I get calls constantly. When Creed makes a teacher angry, they have resorted to just saying "Here, call your mother!' and handing him the phone.
[And again, I say, "What in the world is going on at this school?"] Then I get a phone message like: "Uh, mom, my teacher wanted me to call, uh, to say that I was calling out in class."
So I asked this v.p. what she thought we could do, punishment-wise, at home. First she kind of defended him. Maybe she wondered what kind of punishment I had up my sleeve. She replied something like: "Well, it's all harmless stuff, just goofing off, nothing mean-spirited.'' And finally she admitted: "I don't really know your son.''
OK, thanks.
I was pretty angry at him, anyway. I had warned him that if I got another call, he'd be grounded from TV for a week.
I told my husband what happened, via this email: "Your son is getting three days of in school suspension for throwing food in the cafeteria YESTERDAY."
Here's his response: "Well, I threw a tater tot or two in my time. ''
(Maybe I could ground them both from TV for a week.) ... So I punished Creed just as promised. Creed's response: "For throwing a noodle?''
I don't think this was too harsh. You issue a warning, and then you follow through. Basic Parenting 101.
Unrelated quote-of-the-week goes to Lily, our 4 year old, who asked this morning:
"Mommy, when you die -- when we all die -- what will happen to our cars?''
Gretchen Day-Bryant has a son in high school and a daughter in middle school. She’s lived to tell about the struggles of juggling little kids and work.
Joy Oglesby has a preschooler...
Cindy Kent Fort Lauderdale mother of three. Her kids span in ages from teenager to 20s.
Rafael Olmeda and his wife welcomed their first son in Feb. 2009, and he's helping raise two teenage stepdaughters.
Lois Solomon lives in Boca Raton with her husband and three daughters.
Georgia East is the parent of a five-year-old girl, who came into the world weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces.
Brittany Wallman is the mother of Creed, 15, and Lily, 7, and is married to a journalist, Bob Norman. She covers Broward County government, which is filled with almost as much drama as the Norman household. Almost.
Chris Tiedje is the Social Media Coordinator and the father of a 7-year-old girl, and two boys ages 4 and 3.
Kyara Lomer Camarena has a 2-year-old son, Copelan, and a brand new baby. 
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