![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
coffeesnob318No parents. I mean, they have parents, but the parents aren't directly involved. They can't be - the students are legally adults. It would be illegal to discuss anything regarding their education, grades or discipline with the parents. I am blissfully immune from having to deal with parents at all.
Until I'm sitting on the bicycle at the gym next to a couple of mothers.
I had just started pedaling when two mothers of preschoolers started complaining about their daycare teachers and how unfair they were to their precious children. One of them just couldn't understand why her daughter would get reprimanded for "spazzing out" for a little while, arguing that maybe that's just what she needed to do. The other one totally agreed. She advised the mother to suggest to the teacher ways that she could better engage her child (I may have not been able to suppress a quiet snort at this point). The mother doubted that the teacher would take her seriously, and the other one sarcastically retorted, "Well, of course not. What would we know, with our almost Masters degrees in counseling?"
Now I understand that love can make a person crazy and irrational, but are they serious? I know that her daughter is the center of her universe, but that doesn't actually make her the center of the whole universe. What is that teacher supposed to do with the other fifteen three-year-olds while her daughter is taking her special personal moment to spazz out? How would her allowing that behavior be fair to them (not to mention how would she keep from slitting her wrists when they all decided that they wanted to spazz out at the same time)? And, even worse, what a horrible message to send to her own daughter, that she is entitled to act like she is more important than everybody else. I literally had to bite my tongue not to pop off with something tacky like, "Well, with my actual Masters degree (which, truth be told, is basically useless when staring into the big puppy eyes of a two-year-old who has just had her third potty accident of the day and is sooo sad about it - if that doesn't melt your heart, then you just don't have one) and fourteen years of teaching experience (including three harrowing years in daycare with sweet toddlers and their nutty parents), maybe what you ought to try is actually supporting your child's teacher and seeing how that works out. If you have concerns, show her enough respect to schedule a private meeting with her in which you talk about said concerns and also listen to any concerns that she might have. Because you're absolutely right about one thing - your child is bright. And she looks up to you and (just like you, apparently) thinks you know everything. She pays attention to you, and it is really difficult for her to excel under a teacher to whom Mom shows such blatant disrespect. So as long as you continue to do so, you are crippling her education."
*breathes into paper bag*
Luckily, there's a 30-minute limit on the cardio machines at the gym, so I didn't have to bite my tongue for long. And Maggie got an earful, which she listened to sweetly and supportively. I also noticed that I burned 45 more calories than I normally do. Angst makes me pedal faster. Maybe I should get riled up more often. Maybe calm is overrated. :)
Until I'm sitting on the bicycle at the gym next to a couple of mothers.
I had just started pedaling when two mothers of preschoolers started complaining about their daycare teachers and how unfair they were to their precious children. One of them just couldn't understand why her daughter would get reprimanded for "spazzing out" for a little while, arguing that maybe that's just what she needed to do. The other one totally agreed. She advised the mother to suggest to the teacher ways that she could better engage her child (I may have not been able to suppress a quiet snort at this point). The mother doubted that the teacher would take her seriously, and the other one sarcastically retorted, "Well, of course not. What would we know, with our almost Masters degrees in counseling?"
Now I understand that love can make a person crazy and irrational, but are they serious? I know that her daughter is the center of her universe, but that doesn't actually make her the center of the whole universe. What is that teacher supposed to do with the other fifteen three-year-olds while her daughter is taking her special personal moment to spazz out? How would her allowing that behavior be fair to them (not to mention how would she keep from slitting her wrists when they all decided that they wanted to spazz out at the same time)? And, even worse, what a horrible message to send to her own daughter, that she is entitled to act like she is more important than everybody else. I literally had to bite my tongue not to pop off with something tacky like, "Well, with my actual Masters degree (which, truth be told, is basically useless when staring into the big puppy eyes of a two-year-old who has just had her third potty accident of the day and is sooo sad about it - if that doesn't melt your heart, then you just don't have one) and fourteen years of teaching experience (including three harrowing years in daycare with sweet toddlers and their nutty parents), maybe what you ought to try is actually supporting your child's teacher and seeing how that works out. If you have concerns, show her enough respect to schedule a private meeting with her in which you talk about said concerns and also listen to any concerns that she might have. Because you're absolutely right about one thing - your child is bright. And she looks up to you and (just like you, apparently) thinks you know everything. She pays attention to you, and it is really difficult for her to excel under a teacher to whom Mom shows such blatant disrespect. So as long as you continue to do so, you are crippling her education."
*breathes into paper bag*
Luckily, there's a 30-minute limit on the cardio machines at the gym, so I didn't have to bite my tongue for long. And Maggie got an earful, which she listened to sweetly and supportively. I also noticed that I burned 45 more calories than I normally do. Angst makes me pedal faster. Maybe I should get riled up more often. Maybe calm is overrated. :)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-01-29 08:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 12:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-04 11:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-04 11:14 am (UTC)