Monday, April 30, 2012

Day 309: I don't want to do this on my own

04/27/2012

I am getting ready to cry UNCLE on this deployment. To give up and let it win. I don't want to do this anymore. Not that I have a choice in the matter, I have to continue. The Army won't bring my husband home early just because I cry "Uncle" and am feeling stressed. It isn't that easy.

Today, after I dropped my kids off at school, I drove to Emily's school to speak with her Assistant Principal (AP) about the issue I just became aware of. She was nice enough to meet with me quickly. She said she knew Emily a little in that she had spoken with her a few times at various events and thought she was a sweet, funny kid. When I told her about her being punished for at least 4 months without my knowledge, she said she didn't believe it. She told me that she didn't think it could have gone on for so long. I tried telling her that I had talked to Emily for a while to ensure she was not exaggerating, and she wasn't. She continued to tell me the same thing, never changing her story. As her mother, I have a bit of a super power, I know if she is lying or not (she really sucks at it). I knew she wasn't lying because I wouldn't have jumped in to talk to them about it if I wasn't sure. Then she said that she wants me to meet with the teachers today during their conference time at 1:10pm. I said I would be back by then.

When I came back, I knew it wasn't going to be productive. The first thing the AP said was that she talked to the teacher and the teacher said that Emily had not been on the fence hardly at all. So, I went to the meeting, hoping that it would be better, but I had the feeling I was being lied to. The teacher told me that Emily was rarely on the fence. So I asked her to give me a round about number. Was it once or twice a week? A month? The teacher told me that no, it was sporadic at best. That Emily had hardly been on the fence. I knew that was a lie because my daughter would have told me after I asked her 10 times. She would have said that it really wasn't that much. But Emily told me that she had been on everyday for months. It was too big a difference in what Emily said and what the teacher said. After talking to the teacher for over 30 minutes, I felt no better about the situation. She was trying to keep herself out of trouble. 

Later, Emily came home and told me that her teacher had talked to her after I left. She said things to Emily that were her trying to convince Emily that it "wasn't as much as she thought." She told her to remember the times when she didn't write her name on the board or that she gave all the kids a day off the fence. That did it. Not only had I been lied to, she was trying to talk my daughter into saying she was wrong. I asked Emily again, and she said the same as before. That she was on the fence everyday. The only breaks she had was when it was a really short recess (a couple times maybe) or indoor recess. Then she asked if she could change classes because she was tired of being treated badly by her classmates and because she didn't have anymore friends. They all think she shouldn't be playing with them and that she should be on the fence. That broke my heart.

So, here I sit. Waiting for Monday to try and talk to the principal again. I wish Ian were here to go through this with me. That he were here to talk to the school. I hate having to take care of this on my own, but, again, I know it is what I have to do. I will deal with it because I have to, not because I want to. I want to have my husband by my side to talk to them. At least I have him to talk to at night and have him to help me talk to Emily. For that, I am truly grateful and am able to get through it.

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