Whammy!

This is going to be written more journal like just so that I can sort through some of this and get it out of my head.

At the kids school, they have a discipline system that involves "office tickets." You can get tickets for good or bad behavoir. The school is new this year and is working towards providing an environment of exceptional learning so this year has been a learning experience for all involved. As they have gradually upped the expectations of the students, many students have been weeded out. This is proving to be a good thing and I am very impressed with all the teachers and administration at this school. It has really been a blessing for our family.

Last week Zach recieved 3 office tickets for not so good behavior. He had a late assignment and then was off task on the other two. Considering we are a month away from summer and this is his first tickets, I'm not pleased in any way, but it's not too big of a deal to me. With 2 tickets, he was assigned 1 hour of after school service/detention time. I had him do this last Thursday since I had some errands to run that day.

Because we homeschooled for 4 years and used a different math program, which I loved, but since we didn't finish the series Zach has been behind in school this year in his math class. We finally set up before school tutoring with his teacher (that's a very long story also but the end result is we finally got a plan in place that seems to be working for him.) So on Ken's way to work, he drops Zach off to school a half hour early for tutoring each morning.

On Saturday, Zach mowed the lawn. He has allergies so that chore seemed to get his system all worked up and he was coughing and drippy the rest of the day. We kept him home on Sunday because his coughing hadn't settled down yet. On Monday, he was still sick so he stayed home from school. On Tuesday, Shaelynne missed the bus and Zach was claiming to still be sick only it was more his stomach now. I had him take some Zantac and I took Shaelynne to school late. I mentioned to the Vice Principal that Zach was home sick but that hopefully he would be there tomorrow. Later that day Justyn called me and wanted me to come get him since he had a headache and couldn't think anymore. So, I went back to the school to get him. On my way out the door, the V.P. came out of her office and said she'd walk with me to my car. STRANGE! She said, "Tell Zach that the boy that has been intimidating him has withdrawn from our school so it's safe to come back to school." I looked at her dumbfoundedly. What, Zach is home with allergies and stomach issues. What kid? For how long? Are you sure it's my Zach we are talking about? She wouldn't tell me a name or any information, just that when the boy's mother pulled him out, she was concerned about Zach and that her son had been bullying him. WEIRD!

On my way home, I called my sick Zach, and asked him what in the world the V.P. was talking about. He was hesitant to say anything to me but I pryed it out of him.

On Thursday in dentention, some older boys had started picking on him. When I picked him up, his eye was red. I asked him if someone hit him and he said no, they were just goofing around. The new story is that a bunch of boys held him while the leader boy hit him. Zach wiggled free and ran away before anything else happended and then I showed up and he was safe. The next morning was tutoring. These same boys came in early and harrassed him. He tried to get the teacher to stop them but she didn't do anything about it. He said he hid under the table. They found him and the teacher told him to stop goofing off so he ran to another class and asked another teacher for help. She told him to stop running in the school or he would be in trouble. He slipped into a third teachers room and asked for help. He was told to settle down and get to class. He was frustrated that no adult would help him. The day, Zach's friends were worried about the situation, so they went to the Principal. She did some interviewing of Zach and the other kids. According to the V.P., they realized this was a pretty serious problem and they were doing what they could to get it under control. The leader boy was already on school dicipline and this stunt just confirmed thier decision to ask him to leave. My problem is, I feel like I should have been involved at this point. It would still be 4 more days before I was clued in here.

After school, he stayed in his art class until he missed the bus and the boys were gone. Then he called me and I had to go get him from school. On Monday he was scared to go to school and he had allergies so that was a good excuse to stay home. On Tuesday, he faked the allergies because he was so scared and he already has stomach problems that are stress related so this caused his stomach to start acting up. On Wednesday, I finally insisted that he had to go to school. The boy harrassing him was gone and he had a major report/presentation due so he needed to be in school. He was terrified of the other boys coming after him even more now that the leader boy had been pulled out of school. The school staff reassured him that it was under control and that he was safe now. He went to school, late, but seemed to be doing good when I picked him up after school.

Yesterday, I had to take Justyn to the doctor after school because he pickes things on his skin until they bleed and become infected. After visiting with the doctor about his social life and all his stress at home, the doctor sent him out of the room so he could visit with me. Apparently, Justyn has anxiety and depression. He's 10! He's actually had it since he was 5 which is one reason I pulled him out of school to teach him at home. We've done pretty good the last few years but things have progressively gotten worse this year. Give me a break here. It's been a rough year! So, he needs counseling and medicine. I told the doctor that I'm doing the best I can here. I had a crapload of stuff hit me hard this year and I didn't handle it very well. Now, I'm slowly pulling it back together but man, what am I supposed to do here? I admit, at that point I was a little emotional.

Between all of this, we had some fallout with our court case and my in-laws so I was trying to sort through all of that and trying to keep my head on straight. I was so looking forward to a relaxing evening of American Idol and folding the mountain of laundry that was waiting for me on my bed. (I just have to say, I'm so sad that Brooke went home last night!!!! But she hasn't done that well lately so it wasn't a surprise. Now I'm for sure a David Archeleta fan!)

Yesterday evening, Zach's leader showed up to take him to Young Men's (his church youth activity). A half hour later, Zach called me in tears that his stomach hurt. I told him Dad was at the church somewhere for a meeting and to find him. He couldn't and I couldn't get him to answer his phone either, so I headed over to pick him up. On the way, Ken called me and said he had Zach and that he couldn't breathe so he was taking him to the ER. I was close by so I headed that way also. I had his insurance info so I took care of that but because the ER was so full, I had to leave. That's okay, I had left the house in chaos so I definately was needed somewhere else. About 10p.m. they came home. Zach has severe stomach issues all related to his stress level. They told him to figure out how to control his stress and he would be able to get this under control. HELLO! He's 12 years old!!!!

SO, he is home again today because he is working all the medicine out of his system that they put in him last night. He's doing really well actually. He seems back to normal.

I feel slightly worked over though. It's hard when your children suffer because of you. I have expected alot out of my children. They are well behaved, most of the time, and they know how to do alot of work around the house. I expect them to have high standards and to do their best work. I expect them to be kind and respectful of those around them. In all my efforts to teach good, I guess I forgot to teach stress management. Oh, that's because I'm clueless in that area. Have you ever felt like you just suck at your job? It's okay. Today is a new day and we are all still here so I'll make a new plan and see how it works out. I'm thinking we need a vacation. Can we, all 8 of us, come visit you? Ha! Ha! Then we could cause you to have stress issues as well.

Sorry if this post is more run on and full of more mistakes than normal. I'm not even going back to re-read this one. It's out, now I'm moving on. My favorite part of blogging is when I don't want to be in my world, I just come over into yours. Thanks for sharing your lives with me.

(Okay, time was up 10 paragraphs ago so I'm done now)