First we have this weather. Peppered in between long and endless gray days full of rain purging from the sky are a day here and there with sun. Not true summer sun -- not hot, endless ohmygod it is so hot out sun. Just the sun, usually peeking out behind clouds -- but sun nonetheless. But just when you think the worst is behind, another gray day socks in and while I will admit that it is not POURING out, it is cold and drizzly.
Then this whole thing with Charlie and schools. Okay, he didn't get into Proctor. Do I believe that all things happen for a reason? Yes, I do. I think that school is changing into a jock school and I think (I don't think there is a master Hitler-esque plan) that subconsciously those in charge are leaning towards a male-dominated regime. They are recruiting jocks specifically to play sports. Maddie has had some of this kids in classes with her -- and she says they are number than a box of rocks. Maddie's soccer team had over 30 girls on it -- no one considered creating a third team. Why? Exactly. Who knows what else is falling by the wayside during this time of re-creation, but my son is not a jock and therefore would not fit into this school.
Great. So we move on. But wouldn't you know, we find out on Friday afternoon before the holiday that the stupid, moronic SUCKY AS HELL middle school did not send out the transcripts, and the english teacher who told Charlie she would send out her recommendations ASAP didn't do it at all. WTF? Seriously. What is the message here? Other than the school is incompetent -- but beyond that, what else am I missing here?
I told Charlie that school was one thing, but the lessons he should be deriving from all of this are better than 12 years of sitting on your butt in the classroom yawning. THIS is what life is about. Incompetent people are everywhere, always creating roadblocks for you when you least expect them. It is the way you learn to deal with it that makes or breaks you. Me? I just ran away. I admit that I have no ability to kiss ass or stoop to a certain level. Nope, you can't eat principle for breakfast lunch OR dinner, but you can create a world for yourself that is somewhat apart from "all that."
So here I am, torn again about what exactly it is I want for my children, and how best to help them obtain that. Hallie has followed the proper channels and never strayed far from coloring outside the lines, and she is exceedingly successful. I am proud of her and hope that she is as happy with her choices as the rest of the world is. And Maddie will figure it out. She doesn't make waves, she doesn't have that sense of injustice that is such a pain in the ass to carry through life. But Charlie? The kid is JUST LIKE ME. Without the ability to tone it down. And I'm not even saying I toned it down all that much throughout my life. But still.
What will best serve Charlie at this time of his life? He is so awful to live with right now. He is scared. He was hoping to hear from one of the schools by now -- and what does he receive but another disappointment? Will this make him stronger? Perhaps. Will it make him appreciate it more? I don't know. It's just so much to deal with right now. On top of puberty, the fact that developmentally he has to push away his mother and is taking on that job with great relish, the uncertainty about where he will go to school next year (and when I say that he will attend Kearsarge Regional High School over my dead body, I say it with as much vehemence I can muster, for the new high school principal is someone another school district wanted to fire. Gotta love that!)
So you take that muddled stew and mix in a SUCKY DOG ASS summer, and well. You get ass!
So there.
On another note, I am so impressed by the way that Charlie takes the bull by the horns and tries to fix things. He called the middle school. No answer. (Really, they have NOTHING to prepare for?) So then he looked up the vice principal's home number and called him there. Well, good for him! Perhaps he is a natural-born salesman; and somehow we have to figure out how he can sell himself. He also called the schools he is applying to and explained the situation, then later called the VP back and told him to fax the information. I told him to wait until tomorrow -- and to call the schools and see if they received anything. If not, we'd devise Plan B. That sometimes you had to initiate action and then see if it actually takes place. Rome wasn't built in a day, blah blah blah, and well, patience is a virtue.
Did I really say that? LOL. No, but I did want to rein him in, or else he'll be calling everyone. And then he'll revive that pain in the ass reputation they have adorned him with. NO ONE, especially the public school system, is interested in a real go-getter. Which is completely understandable. This is a population still trying to figure out what the phrase NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND MEANS.
It means ass.
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