We went to two meetings at the kids school last night...the first was just a meeting, the second....well...it was about colonies....a multi-overnight field trip. The big one is going next week for 4 days and 3 nights. Just the grade 5's in one farm....last nights meeting was about the younger one's trip though.
*groan*
2 nights and three days, on a farm with THAT teacher. Any regular readers may have noticed that they younger one's teacher is one of those always angry ones who really needs a LOooooooong sabbatical. Well, I was doing OK with this. Then they mentioned that the kids, these are 6, 7 and 8 year olds mind you, will be eating dinner at 8:30 pm. OK. I'm rolling with this...the little one gets pretty unhappy when she is hungry, but they will give them something to eat at around 6pm. Chocolate milk and a cookie or seven.
This is what got me though. They aren't putting the kids to bed until 11pm.
11pm
I'll say it one more time,
11pm.
My child, by 8:30 is a fairly irrational and deeply obnoxious bundle of rage and misery. By 11? I cannot imagine. And the next day???? Then the third???????????? All handled by the deeply caring and sympathetic teacher that she has. Is my sarcasm thick enough to carry here?
It is going to be a train wreck.
I am surprised by how upset I am about this, and I have been trying to figure out why. The teacher I already find fairly marginal. My daughter is a little marginal about the overnight thing already, but I really don't feel like my child will be adequately cared for. I know in my head that she will, aside from exhaution and starvation, and I know this is partially a cultural thing, but I cannot get away from the feeling.
The other mothers are all saying, "Oh, they're all like that."
"They'll cope."
Why should any of them HAVE to cope?
Why can't they put them to bed?
I cannot change Spain, or the program. The youngest would be very upset if she couldn't go, and the first grade teacher will be there, and so will a lovely new teacher who is the substitute, but OMG. I am not a happy camper.
What I think I may do is set up a meeting with her teacher to see if I can get her to think about how she is going to respond, and as politely as possibly point out that her basic response of anger and frustration with my kid is not really helpful. How do you say that politely in a language you barely speak anyway?
Should be fun.
Sometimes I miss homeschooling.
A lot.
.......later...........
Something of a small world moment, today, the man ran into a guy who was in George Town, Bahamas at the same time as us last year. Indeed I am pretty sure we were anchored near them for a while, and our eldest sailed on a boat with one of their daughters in the around the harbour race! What a small world. They sailed across though.
5 comments:
wow...does she HAVE to go? Will she REALLY be upset if she can't go? I always think Mother Knows Best, and if you have these feelings, then you need to go with them. YOU know your kid, not her Wonderful, Compassionate Teacher Whom We All Love So Much!!! It would probably help to talk to her tho, at the least.
And what a small world! We are always teaching my husband, cuz no matter where we go, he runs into someone he knows. We went to Hilton Head, SC one year...and he ran into another cop he worked with. WTH?!!
I don't know what to say other than thank heavens those other teachers are going along on the trip - and, yeah, maybe a talk with THE teacher will help.
Sounds like your little one wants to go - maybe she'll actually cope better than you think - inspired by the other kids, etc.???
What a dilemma.
My boy goes to bed at 9 p.m. and any later than that and he's a ... I can't even bear to say it. It's SCARY.
Beth: Yeah, she's going to go...we'll just have to hope that she copes.
Beth: I am glad the other teachers are going as well, it should help a lot.
DD: It gets better as they get older, the youngest used to fade at about 7pm, now we make it to 9 which is better.
I don't live in Spain, but from traveling there and Spanish friends, I understand that there culture is to stay up late into the night. It would seem that that's something that develops, or starts, at a young age...not just suddenly as an adult. 9pm is pretty late for American kids, but how late are these other kids used to staying up? the spanish ones i mean. is it normal for them - 11 pm? Is that just another cultural adjustment...moving the daily routine later in spain in general (like eating lunch at 2 pm)? I'm not saying you're not justified in being concerned, not at all, just wondering if the spanish parents think it's quite normal or not?
Post a Comment