Late Thursday night my sister came with her husband, daughter and son. Y and I were already asleep, so we said our hellos the next morning. Thank goodness there were so many relatives to keep Y company in the morning, Mama got to sleep in till after 10!
You'd think I would've been quite rested after ten hours of sleep, but I spent half the night trying not to hack up a lung. I even made an appointment with the doctor for after I got home, I want to know what's been bugging me for the past month. It's not really getting any better, either. I'll let you know later what I found out.
Anyways, back to Friday with the cousins and Dyedushka (grandfather). Y and Patrick (my 11yr old nephew) spent the morning playing Pat's XBOX, and watching cartoons while Faith (my 8yr old niece) drew us all pictures. Then we went to see 'Night at the Museum - The Smithsonian.' Very cute movie, where the boys all sat on one side of the row and the girls on the other. After we were all popcorned out, we met my dad and stepmother at a place called Fun Fest. It is essentially a bowling alley with a game area and a laser tag room attached to one end.
Needless to say, once Pat and Y saw the game area, we didn't need to do anything to entertain them other than about ten bucks worth of tokens. Each of the three kids racked up over 150 tickets, but they were kind of bummed when they saw the "prizes." Cheap stuff from overseas. Probably could've spent $3 and bought them everything they won, but they had a good time, nonetheless.
My dad had coupons for buy one, get one for both laser tag and bowling. We did laser tag first. We split into two groups, me, my sister Laure and my dad on one team; Y, Pat, Faith and my brother-in-law Mike (they needed one adult on the team) on the other. We were green, they were red. They creamed us. Mike came in first by "killing" 40+ times, and only getting "killed" once. Y was second, but only because he got 'killed' three times. Pat was third and Faith fourth. My father, the professional police officer, came in FIFTH place! He said if there were little circles on the targets he could've hit them. Laure was sixth and I was 'dead' last. Carol did not play, but she said she had a blast watching us.
Then we put on some bowling shoes and went for another show down. Mike won that one, too. Show off. The kids played by themselves, and Faith won their game. She was the only one with the advantage of the bumpers. Since all they served there was pizza and no one wanted that, we went to Denny's for dinner. I hate to think what my dad paid for the pleasure of seeing two of his children and all three of his grandkids at once. Y and Pat even tried to have a burping contest at the table, but my sis quashed that one really quick. Some people just don't know how to have fun.
Then it was back home for more video games and Sponge Bob until it was time for Babushka to watch "So you think you can dance?"
Y was very quiet after we got home. He said he was cold, and kept his jacket on for quite a while. I felt his forehead and he seemed a little warm, so I gave him a painkiller. That seemed to help, but he even went to bed all on his own at 9:30pm. Unusual for him, he always gives me lip at bed time.
The next morning he seemed to be better, but still tired. I probably kept him up all night with my coughing. He slept on a mattress on the floor in my old room.
Next post about Saturday in the 'Burgh.
Natalie
TX
Monday, June 8, 2009
Kennywood
Well, we made it to Pittsburgh just fine. All except my left eardrum, that was. It didn't stop popping for over 24 hours.
There was a little bit of a miscue getting picked up at the airport. My Auntie Joan and cousin Julie accompanied my mom for the momentous occasion. It seems they went in one door and we came out the other. Aunt Joan noticed us and started yelling for them to come back, but it was too late. They had a nice sign made up welcoming Y to Pittsburgh and the family. We didn't get to see it until we were in the car.
We did get a nice view of the city coming through the Ft Pitt Tunnel. Babushka told him the city was just the other side, and when he saw it Y said, "Big city!" We immediately went to my mom's house for dinner. Even Uncle Craig showed up, bearing a football (the American kind). He doesn't normally do family functions, so that was a surprise. We all settled down to watch the Penguins win a great game of hockey later that night, too.
Thursday seemed a very good day to go visit Kennywood. I tried to tell Y it was a park with roller coasters, and he kept trying to bring his roller blades with us. Cousin Julie told him it's not that kind of park, but you'll like it anyway! Early afternoon, the three of us piled into mom's car and it took me 10 minutes to figure out how to get the seat to lower so that my head wasn't hitting the roof liner. Twenty minutes after that we were parking the car outside the gates.
Y's eyes were pretty big at that point. I don't think he'd ever been to an amusement park before. He told me he'd been to a water park, though. We started out with the Jack Rabbit. A quick old wooden roller coaster, but not too quick. Maybe 50 miles per hour at it's height. When the ride started, I told Y to raise his hands in the air. He said, "Why?," and I got to use that good ole parent stand by - "Because I said so!" At the end of the ride he said, "I no like!" What - you don't like roller coasters!!! No, it turns out he just doesn't like to raise his arms in the air.
We got a quick bite to eat and then went on this pendulum thingy that made me quite queasy. Food in the tummy combined with sinus problems - not the ride to go on. Don't worry, everything stayed right where it was supposed to be, but during the middle of the ride (with my eyes closed, concentrating on not puking) I heard Y say, "Mama, why you no like?" All I could think was in just a few more seconds, you may find out.
After that it was off to the Thunderbolt. You need a partner for that ride, so Julie and Y went together while I waited. The Thunderbolt is an old wooden roller coaster that goes about 60-70 miles an hour or so. Forty years ago it was voted one of the best in the country. Y was quite animated when they got off the ride. I asked him if he liked it, and he said, "Yes." Then he showed me what his face looked like during the ride: hands clenched on the bar and a look of sheer terror on his face. Man, if he thought that was scary, wait until we did the Phantom's Revenge!
We had trouble finding the entrance to the Phantom's Revenge, so we ended up going on the Exterminator first. It was the only ride with a line that day. We had to wait about thirty minutes, but it was a pretty good ride. It is an indoor, dark, roller coaster. I have to say, even I couldn't see everywhere we were going seconds before we got there (benefits of working in the dark for almost 20 yrs). The ride twisted and jolted you around so much, it's a good thing I don't have any back problems.
Finally we found the entrance to Phantom's Revenge. Literally, it took longer to walk to the ride than it did to wait to get on it. They had just finished filling one car of riders when we got up there and we had to wait less than a minute for our ride to start. Let me just tell you, this roller coaster requires a seat belt AND one of those bars that comes down so far that you can't breathe properly during the ride. That's okay, because I really didn't have much air in my lungs - I was screaming it all out. The Phantom's Revenge is a 2 minute ten second ride. It takes one minute for the chain to pull you up to the top of the first drop. Literally it's about 10 stories high, maybe more. I don't know. My eyes were closed. From there it is almost a vertical drop and off you go, twisting and turning for over a minute. My ears popped twice on the way down. I think we were going about 90 miles an hour at one point.
After that, we filled our day with the Turnpike (Y drove), the Gran Prix (bumper cars), the Racer, some space alien spinning ride that I refused to go on, and another turn at the Phantom's Revenge. The second ride was as thrilling as the first. Apparently a little too thrilling for one young rider who literally got the crap scared out of them, poor thing.
As we were leaving, Y asked, "We back tomorrow, Mama?" When I told him no, he said, "Okay, next year?"
Natalie
TX
There was a little bit of a miscue getting picked up at the airport. My Auntie Joan and cousin Julie accompanied my mom for the momentous occasion. It seems they went in one door and we came out the other. Aunt Joan noticed us and started yelling for them to come back, but it was too late. They had a nice sign made up welcoming Y to Pittsburgh and the family. We didn't get to see it until we were in the car.
We did get a nice view of the city coming through the Ft Pitt Tunnel. Babushka told him the city was just the other side, and when he saw it Y said, "Big city!" We immediately went to my mom's house for dinner. Even Uncle Craig showed up, bearing a football (the American kind). He doesn't normally do family functions, so that was a surprise. We all settled down to watch the Penguins win a great game of hockey later that night, too.
Thursday seemed a very good day to go visit Kennywood. I tried to tell Y it was a park with roller coasters, and he kept trying to bring his roller blades with us. Cousin Julie told him it's not that kind of park, but you'll like it anyway! Early afternoon, the three of us piled into mom's car and it took me 10 minutes to figure out how to get the seat to lower so that my head wasn't hitting the roof liner. Twenty minutes after that we were parking the car outside the gates.
Y's eyes were pretty big at that point. I don't think he'd ever been to an amusement park before. He told me he'd been to a water park, though. We started out with the Jack Rabbit. A quick old wooden roller coaster, but not too quick. Maybe 50 miles per hour at it's height. When the ride started, I told Y to raise his hands in the air. He said, "Why?," and I got to use that good ole parent stand by - "Because I said so!" At the end of the ride he said, "I no like!" What - you don't like roller coasters!!! No, it turns out he just doesn't like to raise his arms in the air.
We got a quick bite to eat and then went on this pendulum thingy that made me quite queasy. Food in the tummy combined with sinus problems - not the ride to go on. Don't worry, everything stayed right where it was supposed to be, but during the middle of the ride (with my eyes closed, concentrating on not puking) I heard Y say, "Mama, why you no like?" All I could think was in just a few more seconds, you may find out.
After that it was off to the Thunderbolt. You need a partner for that ride, so Julie and Y went together while I waited. The Thunderbolt is an old wooden roller coaster that goes about 60-70 miles an hour or so. Forty years ago it was voted one of the best in the country. Y was quite animated when they got off the ride. I asked him if he liked it, and he said, "Yes." Then he showed me what his face looked like during the ride: hands clenched on the bar and a look of sheer terror on his face. Man, if he thought that was scary, wait until we did the Phantom's Revenge!
We had trouble finding the entrance to the Phantom's Revenge, so we ended up going on the Exterminator first. It was the only ride with a line that day. We had to wait about thirty minutes, but it was a pretty good ride. It is an indoor, dark, roller coaster. I have to say, even I couldn't see everywhere we were going seconds before we got there (benefits of working in the dark for almost 20 yrs). The ride twisted and jolted you around so much, it's a good thing I don't have any back problems.
Finally we found the entrance to Phantom's Revenge. Literally, it took longer to walk to the ride than it did to wait to get on it. They had just finished filling one car of riders when we got up there and we had to wait less than a minute for our ride to start. Let me just tell you, this roller coaster requires a seat belt AND one of those bars that comes down so far that you can't breathe properly during the ride. That's okay, because I really didn't have much air in my lungs - I was screaming it all out. The Phantom's Revenge is a 2 minute ten second ride. It takes one minute for the chain to pull you up to the top of the first drop. Literally it's about 10 stories high, maybe more. I don't know. My eyes were closed. From there it is almost a vertical drop and off you go, twisting and turning for over a minute. My ears popped twice on the way down. I think we were going about 90 miles an hour at one point.
After that, we filled our day with the Turnpike (Y drove), the Gran Prix (bumper cars), the Racer, some space alien spinning ride that I refused to go on, and another turn at the Phantom's Revenge. The second ride was as thrilling as the first. Apparently a little too thrilling for one young rider who literally got the crap scared out of them, poor thing.
As we were leaving, Y asked, "We back tomorrow, Mama?" When I told him no, he said, "Okay, next year?"
Natalie
TX
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Off to Grandmother's House We Go!
Just a quick post. Flying off to Babushka's house in the 'Burgh (hint, check out my blog background) tomorrow morning. Y has been looking forward to it for days. He was a little apprehensive over Easter weekend when we went to visit Bill's side of the family. I think he is more comfortable now for two reasons:
1. He knows more English now than six or so ago.
2. He met Babushka over two years ago on his first hosting visit.
I have no doubt that he still remembers what my mother looks like. He most likely spent hours upon hours studying the photographs he took back with him to Ukraine. All of the kids spend hours looking at those photos and hoping to find a family. Most of the boys in Y's room could name all of my pets, tell me whether the name was a for a cat or a dog and give a general description of what they looked like.
My only hope for tomorrow, other than two uneventful legs of flight, is that my sinuses can survive the trip. Allergy season down here has been horrible this year. Even with two allergy medicines and nightly NyQuil, I still am hacking up half a lung every day and I haven't been able to smell anything for three weeks. Thank goodness Y does not seem to suffer from hayfever like I do.
Natalie
TX
1. He knows more English now than six or so ago.
2. He met Babushka over two years ago on his first hosting visit.
I have no doubt that he still remembers what my mother looks like. He most likely spent hours upon hours studying the photographs he took back with him to Ukraine. All of the kids spend hours looking at those photos and hoping to find a family. Most of the boys in Y's room could name all of my pets, tell me whether the name was a for a cat or a dog and give a general description of what they looked like.
My only hope for tomorrow, other than two uneventful legs of flight, is that my sinuses can survive the trip. Allergy season down here has been horrible this year. Even with two allergy medicines and nightly NyQuil, I still am hacking up half a lung every day and I haven't been able to smell anything for three weeks. Thank goodness Y does not seem to suffer from hayfever like I do.
Natalie
TX
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Mr Sarcasm
I read something while in Ukraine which told me that Ukrainians do not use sarcasm much. Apparently that does not apply to my son. That also means that he fits in quite well in our household. Bill is a professional sarcastic, and I chime in with a good one every once in a while myself.
Let me start with a little explanation, then the details of today. For the past couple of weeks Y has been telling me, "Mama bad - every day!" when I don't do what he wants. Then he tells me, "Y good every day," or "I boss, you loser!" Most of the time he is just expressing frustration or being sarcastic. Sometimes he really means it, though. I always tell him, "Mama is good every day," and, "Y is good sometimes (or today - whichever is appropriate)."
Yesterday I saw an ad in the paper for a cheap computer for my son. I told Bill about it, and he agreed it was time to buy him his own computer. And could I also look for Monsters vs Aliens while I was there, please? (Couldn't find it - it must not be out on DVD yet.)
I worked my first midnight shift since returning from Ukraine last night. It took quite some explaining, but finally Y got the idea that I had to work from 5:30am to 1:30pm and then again from 9:30pm until 5:30am Saturday morning. He even let me get about 1.5 hrs of sleep between shifts. How generous of him! I really wasn't expecting to get much sleep at all. I figured I'd have to fight for every minute I could get after I returned home in the morning. I actually got about 5 hrs sleep this morning as well.
I was so rudely awakened, however at about 11:30am because Bill and Y were arguing downstairs. Bill wanted Y to put on long pants so that he could go outside and help him cut the grass. Bill would ride the tractor and Y would do the weed whacking. The idea behind long pants was so that he would not cut his legs with the string or any flying object. Y did not want to put on long pants. It's nearly June and it's Houston. It's hot, go figure. So, Bill yelled at him and told him to go put the darn pants on, now! Y yelled back in Russian and stormed up to his room and slammed the door. About five minutes later I heard Bill cutting the grass. It seems Bill did both jobs. He also told Y that he could not play on my computer, watch TV or listen to music until he did some of his chores. Y chose to go in his room and close the door for a couple of hours. I personally think he fell back asleep for a little bit.
About an hour later, when I still couldn't fall back to sleep, I went downstairs and gave Bill a little piece of my mind. I told him Y stopped listening to him the second he started yelling, but of course I don't know "what really happened," and therefore my advice fell on deaf ears. Y eventually came out of his room and was quite pleasant at that time. He was still a little cool towards Bill, but at least he sat in the same room with us and watched some TV.
Bill mentioned he had to go to Lowe's for something, and I asked if he still wanted to get Y's computer today. Bill said yes. Wow - breakthrough!!!! Bill did not immediately put the kibosh on the whole thing just because Y didn't do what he wanted him to do. I guess both my boys are growing up. Y and I did a little cleaning upstairs of my room and Y's room, and he ran the sweeper upstairs and down the stairs while I took a shower. Then we headed off to Lowe's and Fry's. Bill said he needed some cigarettes and vodka, so we stopped at the Kroger center. They were having an outdoor vendors market this weekend. Something that is quite common in Ukraine, but not so much here. Y immediately asked if we could go over and look for gifts for the internat director and her husband. Needless to say, I left that little market over $100 lighter. He picked out a really cool wooden dump truck for V, and a nice necklace and earring set for S. We also found a picture of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig along with their playing cards for Bill for father's day.
Then we went to Fry's to get Y's computer. When he asked where we were going, I told him it was a computer store. He was way too excited, and he didn't even know he was getting a new computer. He just likes looking at all the stuff and then pouting when I won't buy it all for him (hence, "Mama bad every day!"). On the trip down there, he told me if Papa did not say thank you for his picture that I should "smack him bum!" He learned this phrase is used almost daily with our dogs. Either, "You are a bum!" or, "Move it before I smack your bum!" Thankfully he has not picked up either of our more colorful language yet.
As we left Fry's Y was on cloud ten, he had a new computer all his own and a new PC game to play on it. He told me he could set it all up himself. I told him that Papa would watch him do it and make sure he did everything okay. He kept telling me, "No! I no baby!" Of course, he did not understand that Bill would have to make sure all of the updates and the new game were installed properly because Y can't read enough English to do that by himself. The only bubble burster for Y was when I told him that we would have an administrator account on his computer. He kept saying that we would not tell him the passwords for our computers, so he would not tell us the password for his computer. Poor thing still struggles with the fact that he is the kid and we are the parents. Parental controls, here we come!
When we got in the car, Y told me, "Thank you, Mama! Mama good today." I told him that I thought this deserved more than one day. He didn't understand, so I said, "Сколько дней? (aka, How many days?)" Y's reply, "Three months." Wow, I was going to get a whole three months of "Mama good every day." That was almost too much to hope for. After a little more conversation, I determined that these were not necessarily going to be three months of consecutive days. I then told Y that I would remind him of my three months of "Mama good" days when he tried to tell me, "Mama bad!" It almost lasted until we got home.
There are two ways to get to our home. One way is slightly shorter, but there are a couple of turns to make. The other way is .2 miles longer, but only one turn. I like the only one turn way. You have to pass up the shorter way first. When I passed that road, Y said, "I boss, Mama go right." I told him I was the boss and I would go whichever way I pleased. Y said, "Mama stinky!"
"Mama stinky? You just said 'Mama good every day for three months!' Now I'm stinky?"
He thought about this for all of two seconds and then said, "I no say you bad, I say you stinky!"
Case closed.
Natalie
TX
Let me start with a little explanation, then the details of today. For the past couple of weeks Y has been telling me, "Mama bad - every day!" when I don't do what he wants. Then he tells me, "Y good every day," or "I boss, you loser!" Most of the time he is just expressing frustration or being sarcastic. Sometimes he really means it, though. I always tell him, "Mama is good every day," and, "Y is good sometimes (or today - whichever is appropriate)."
Yesterday I saw an ad in the paper for a cheap computer for my son. I told Bill about it, and he agreed it was time to buy him his own computer. And could I also look for Monsters vs Aliens while I was there, please? (Couldn't find it - it must not be out on DVD yet.)
I worked my first midnight shift since returning from Ukraine last night. It took quite some explaining, but finally Y got the idea that I had to work from 5:30am to 1:30pm and then again from 9:30pm until 5:30am Saturday morning. He even let me get about 1.5 hrs of sleep between shifts. How generous of him! I really wasn't expecting to get much sleep at all. I figured I'd have to fight for every minute I could get after I returned home in the morning. I actually got about 5 hrs sleep this morning as well.
I was so rudely awakened, however at about 11:30am because Bill and Y were arguing downstairs. Bill wanted Y to put on long pants so that he could go outside and help him cut the grass. Bill would ride the tractor and Y would do the weed whacking. The idea behind long pants was so that he would not cut his legs with the string or any flying object. Y did not want to put on long pants. It's nearly June and it's Houston. It's hot, go figure. So, Bill yelled at him and told him to go put the darn pants on, now! Y yelled back in Russian and stormed up to his room and slammed the door. About five minutes later I heard Bill cutting the grass. It seems Bill did both jobs. He also told Y that he could not play on my computer, watch TV or listen to music until he did some of his chores. Y chose to go in his room and close the door for a couple of hours. I personally think he fell back asleep for a little bit.
About an hour later, when I still couldn't fall back to sleep, I went downstairs and gave Bill a little piece of my mind. I told him Y stopped listening to him the second he started yelling, but of course I don't know "what really happened," and therefore my advice fell on deaf ears. Y eventually came out of his room and was quite pleasant at that time. He was still a little cool towards Bill, but at least he sat in the same room with us and watched some TV.
Bill mentioned he had to go to Lowe's for something, and I asked if he still wanted to get Y's computer today. Bill said yes. Wow - breakthrough!!!! Bill did not immediately put the kibosh on the whole thing just because Y didn't do what he wanted him to do. I guess both my boys are growing up. Y and I did a little cleaning upstairs of my room and Y's room, and he ran the sweeper upstairs and down the stairs while I took a shower. Then we headed off to Lowe's and Fry's. Bill said he needed some cigarettes and vodka, so we stopped at the Kroger center. They were having an outdoor vendors market this weekend. Something that is quite common in Ukraine, but not so much here. Y immediately asked if we could go over and look for gifts for the internat director and her husband. Needless to say, I left that little market over $100 lighter. He picked out a really cool wooden dump truck for V, and a nice necklace and earring set for S. We also found a picture of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig along with their playing cards for Bill for father's day.
Then we went to Fry's to get Y's computer. When he asked where we were going, I told him it was a computer store. He was way too excited, and he didn't even know he was getting a new computer. He just likes looking at all the stuff and then pouting when I won't buy it all for him (hence, "Mama bad every day!"). On the trip down there, he told me if Papa did not say thank you for his picture that I should "smack him bum!" He learned this phrase is used almost daily with our dogs. Either, "You are a bum!" or, "Move it before I smack your bum!" Thankfully he has not picked up either of our more colorful language yet.
As we left Fry's Y was on cloud ten, he had a new computer all his own and a new PC game to play on it. He told me he could set it all up himself. I told him that Papa would watch him do it and make sure he did everything okay. He kept telling me, "No! I no baby!" Of course, he did not understand that Bill would have to make sure all of the updates and the new game were installed properly because Y can't read enough English to do that by himself. The only bubble burster for Y was when I told him that we would have an administrator account on his computer. He kept saying that we would not tell him the passwords for our computers, so he would not tell us the password for his computer. Poor thing still struggles with the fact that he is the kid and we are the parents. Parental controls, here we come!
When we got in the car, Y told me, "Thank you, Mama! Mama good today." I told him that I thought this deserved more than one day. He didn't understand, so I said, "Сколько дней? (aka, How many days?)" Y's reply, "Three months." Wow, I was going to get a whole three months of "Mama good every day." That was almost too much to hope for. After a little more conversation, I determined that these were not necessarily going to be three months of consecutive days. I then told Y that I would remind him of my three months of "Mama good" days when he tried to tell me, "Mama bad!" It almost lasted until we got home.
There are two ways to get to our home. One way is slightly shorter, but there are a couple of turns to make. The other way is .2 miles longer, but only one turn. I like the only one turn way. You have to pass up the shorter way first. When I passed that road, Y said, "I boss, Mama go right." I told him I was the boss and I would go whichever way I pleased. Y said, "Mama stinky!"
"Mama stinky? You just said 'Mama good every day for three months!' Now I'm stinky?"
He thought about this for all of two seconds and then said, "I no say you bad, I say you stinky!"
Case closed.
Natalie
TX
Bigotry alive and well in Magnolia TX
We had a little incident at school earlier this week. It seems one of the boys on Y's bus has been harrassing him. Y has not said a peep to us about it. Not even in Russian. It seems from my observations that the kids in the internat learned to solve problems without involving the adults. Maybe the adults never did anything about teasing, etc, I don't know.
Y only rides the bus home in the afternoons. We drop him off in the morning because the bus comes by fifteen minutes before we need to wake him up for school! Well, apparently last Friday afternoon Y was listening to some Russian music on his recorder and singing along. This other boy took offense and yelled at him to speak English. Apparently this was bad enough that the other boy held a grudge over a three day holiday weekend, and early Tuesday morning he spit on Y. Y spit back. So, they punished both boys - Y got 'lunch detention' and the other boy got a 3 day in-school suspension. Luckily there were only three days of school left.
We got a phone call from the school that morning, and an email from Y's teacher later that afternoon. His teacher wanted to make sure that no retaliation went on during the bus ride home. Bill asked Y about it and said the best he could understand was that this had been going on for some time. No wonder he's in a bad mood some days when he gets off the bus. My questions are: Why did they even let this other boy ride the bus home at all? Why not tell his parents that his bus riding privileges have been suspended for the remainder of the year? Why even give him a chance to retaliate?
I'm also upset with the bus driver who appears to have done nothing to help the situation. Back in my day, they would pull the bus over, put it in park and tell the misbehaving child to behave or else they would be put off the bus immediately (once other transportation arrived).
Y's teacher did say that both the boy and his parents had been advised that if this behavior occurred again, there would be harsher punishment. Technically, the spitting meets the definition of assault. Bill said if the kid does it again, he will call the sheriff and see how the school likes that.
The school has not provided the name of the child or contact information for his parents. I believe this should be given to us, just for our records. That way if this boy is also in the 7th grade and rides the bus with Y next year we have proof that bad behavior has continued from year to year.
My opinion is when a child acts bigoted or racist it comes straight from the parents. Bigotry is not encoded in your DNA, it is learned!
I just hope that because Y was punished, too, it will not prevent him from coming to us with his problems in the future.
Natalie
TX
Y only rides the bus home in the afternoons. We drop him off in the morning because the bus comes by fifteen minutes before we need to wake him up for school! Well, apparently last Friday afternoon Y was listening to some Russian music on his recorder and singing along. This other boy took offense and yelled at him to speak English. Apparently this was bad enough that the other boy held a grudge over a three day holiday weekend, and early Tuesday morning he spit on Y. Y spit back. So, they punished both boys - Y got 'lunch detention' and the other boy got a 3 day in-school suspension. Luckily there were only three days of school left.
We got a phone call from the school that morning, and an email from Y's teacher later that afternoon. His teacher wanted to make sure that no retaliation went on during the bus ride home. Bill asked Y about it and said the best he could understand was that this had been going on for some time. No wonder he's in a bad mood some days when he gets off the bus. My questions are: Why did they even let this other boy ride the bus home at all? Why not tell his parents that his bus riding privileges have been suspended for the remainder of the year? Why even give him a chance to retaliate?
I'm also upset with the bus driver who appears to have done nothing to help the situation. Back in my day, they would pull the bus over, put it in park and tell the misbehaving child to behave or else they would be put off the bus immediately (once other transportation arrived).
Y's teacher did say that both the boy and his parents had been advised that if this behavior occurred again, there would be harsher punishment. Technically, the spitting meets the definition of assault. Bill said if the kid does it again, he will call the sheriff and see how the school likes that.
The school has not provided the name of the child or contact information for his parents. I believe this should be given to us, just for our records. That way if this boy is also in the 7th grade and rides the bus with Y next year we have proof that bad behavior has continued from year to year.
My opinion is when a child acts bigoted or racist it comes straight from the parents. Bigotry is not encoded in your DNA, it is learned!
I just hope that because Y was punished, too, it will not prevent him from coming to us with his problems in the future.
Natalie
TX
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Dynamo-mite!
Saturday was a pretty good day, considering that I had to get up at 4am for a 5:30am shift. After work, I took Y to the store to buy shirts for the Dynamo game we attended that evening. The Dynamo are our local MLS soccer team (champs 2006 & 2007). Y wanted nothing to do with buying their shirts, but I bought one for myself and one for Bill. Y wanted an Oakland Raiders shirt. Football Americanski? What?!! It seems he likes their logo. I didn't have the heart to tell him the team hasn't been very good in recent years. It'll do him good to cheer for the underdog. Unless they're playing the Steelers. Then it's war.
He even wanted a football Americanski, too. They have been practicing throwing footballs at school during phys ed and it seems my son is not very good. You know how it is for boys at Jr High, if you can't throw a football, doesn't matter what else you can do. So, he practiced a bit with me in the driveway. That was, until he found out I can't throw a spiral worth a darn either. Then he took Goofy out in the back yard. I could not emphasize to him enough that Goofy must never touch the ball, or it would be no more for this Earth! A 115lb yellow lab vs. a measly little $14 football. Not much of a match. Y kept telling me it would be okay, until I told him that Nala (our dear departed Nala Bear) ate not one, but TWO footballs when she was Goofy's age. The first one she ate within an hour of the kids unwrapping it at Christmas. All it takes is one canine to puncture that pigskin, and that's all she wrote. He did very well, and was quite careful of Goofy catching the ball. That did not stop either one of them running around and playing chase for over half an hour. I'm not sure if Y was playing a running back or a wide receiver, but he had no problem jumping over Goofy and outmaneuvering him.
Then, we went to the Dynamo game. Y wasn't too keen on the idea until we got there and he saw some cool moves from the players. I'm not saying they were World Cup worthy, but they were very good and we left happy campers with a 3-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes.
That night, Y said, "Today little bit good." I'll take it.
Natalie
TX
He even wanted a football Americanski, too. They have been practicing throwing footballs at school during phys ed and it seems my son is not very good. You know how it is for boys at Jr High, if you can't throw a football, doesn't matter what else you can do. So, he practiced a bit with me in the driveway. That was, until he found out I can't throw a spiral worth a darn either. Then he took Goofy out in the back yard. I could not emphasize to him enough that Goofy must never touch the ball, or it would be no more for this Earth! A 115lb yellow lab vs. a measly little $14 football. Not much of a match. Y kept telling me it would be okay, until I told him that Nala (our dear departed Nala Bear) ate not one, but TWO footballs when she was Goofy's age. The first one she ate within an hour of the kids unwrapping it at Christmas. All it takes is one canine to puncture that pigskin, and that's all she wrote. He did very well, and was quite careful of Goofy catching the ball. That did not stop either one of them running around and playing chase for over half an hour. I'm not sure if Y was playing a running back or a wide receiver, but he had no problem jumping over Goofy and outmaneuvering him.
Then, we went to the Dynamo game. Y wasn't too keen on the idea until we got there and he saw some cool moves from the players. I'm not saying they were World Cup worthy, but they were very good and we left happy campers with a 3-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes.
That night, Y said, "Today little bit good." I'll take it.
Natalie
TX
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)