Here we go again

I have mentioned before that I experience some dread when Ryan gets into the car and the first words out of his mouth are:  "Mom, I have some good news and some bad news."

Usually he comes up with some good news, but today it was Ben who spewed the bad news for him, and after that, there was no good news for me to hear:  "He got a 'Think Sheet'!  For just ____!"  (I left it out to build the suspense for this next part...written in red ink on a hot pink page, you know, easy to read...)

"Ryan continues to go to the electric pencil sharpener very frequently each day during work time.  He has been asked not to do this and told that there are sharpened pencils in a can on my desk that he can get anytime.  And today, he didn't even check at his table where there were 3 extra sharpened pencils.  The loud sound is very distracting to the other kids.  Ryan is also working on staying in his seat and staying on task, so this doesn't help.  And mainly, I've asked him countless times not to get up and use the pencil sharpener during work time."

So now, he has to write a few sentences to answer the question, "What can you do differently next time that will work better for you?"

Hmm.  Let's just look at that again:

"Ryan continues to go to the electric pencil sharpener very frequently each day during work time.  He has been asked not to do this and told that there are sharpened pencils in a can on my desk that he can get anytime.  And today, he didn't even check at his table where there were 3 extra sharpened pencils.."

"I will try to use the pencil I already have.   If I can't find a pencil that I deem usable, I will use crayon.  If that doesn't work, I will prick my own finger and write in my blood, as I don't want to risk leaving my seat and getting a pencil from the can on your desk."

"The loud sound is very distracting to the other kids."  

(I think she left out the part where she says that this loud sound, multiplied by the 20 other kids in the classroom being kids, reverberates in her head like the noise from a thousand jackhammers, don't you think?)

"I will be more considerate.  I will hand you a bottle of Tylenol as I walk in the door on Monday." 

"Ryan is also working on staying in his seat and staying on task, so this doesn't help."

"I will try to stay in my seat better, and the flexicuffs oughta do it, while helping me stay "on task," too."

"And mainly, I've asked him countless times not to get up and use the pencil sharpener during work time."

(Again, this may be missing: "Obviously, you've not taught that child to listen the first time, causing me to waste precious breath repeating myself.")

"I will try to pay attention and only cause you to repeat yourself once."

To be honest, after I showed it to Mr W, I jumped in my van and sped off to the school to look for her.  Very heat of the moment.   Fire in my maternal belly.

When I got home, as I came in the door, Nolan asked me, "What happened?"

I replied, "She wasn't there."  Then, under my breath, I muttered, "So she still lives."

Mr W heard me, and he was chuckling before I entered our bedroom.  (I don't think Nolan did.)

I'm going to have a chat with her tomorrow.  I never said Ryan was an angel, and I need to determine just how disruptive and ants-in-his-pants he really is before I come undone, if at all.

"Think Sheets" for talking in the halls, burping, and sharpening pencils...I never knew you could get in trouble just for being a kid.  

It's a shame I haven't copied these, and laminated them or something, for posterity.

You know, to have something to laugh and send to him when he calls to say "Mom, I have some good news and some bad news.....about little Ryan."