sistawendy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sistawendy) wrote2011-02-15 11:08 pm
sistawendy) wrote2011-02-15 11:08 pm
in which my son and I make life hard for each other even when we're apart
A quick check of my recent posts shows me that I forgot something: last week I went to my first PTA meeting en femme. That would have been no big deal, because all my fellow parents knew it was coming, but there were six or eight kids there with business* of their own. They saw me give my conference week shpiel.
M'boy doesn't want any of his schoolmates to see me, and today one of them demonstrated why: he snickered as he asked my son, "Is your dad a girl?"
My son said no.
Nibs and I are united - without even consulting each other - that m'boy needs to own this. I suggested that he say yes to this kind of question, and Nibs points out that nominally, my son doesn't even have a dad anymore.
Yes, I want my son to be as proud of me as I am and yes, I'm absolutely convinced that'll be the easiest way for him in the long run. (Who knows? Maybe the short run too.) In the mean time, though, he's a small, awkward boy surrounded by morally undeveloped, insecure teens something like him only not as burdened. I'm not sure I've ever felt this sorry for him, and there's nothing more I can do about it.
*They want to extend their junior high into a high school. Believe it or not, there's a precedent from at least one other "choice" school in the district. I understand why the kids like it: it's a small, close-knit school that has some of the most active teachers & parents in the district, plus a curriculum that encourages creativity and independence. I'm right there with them. I worry, though, about what would happen when they reach the giant, impersonal machine that is college, but what little information I have suggests that students from this school have done very well later in life.
M'boy doesn't want any of his schoolmates to see me, and today one of them demonstrated why: he snickered as he asked my son, "Is your dad a girl?"
My son said no.
Nibs and I are united - without even consulting each other - that m'boy needs to own this. I suggested that he say yes to this kind of question, and Nibs points out that nominally, my son doesn't even have a dad anymore.
Yes, I want my son to be as proud of me as I am and yes, I'm absolutely convinced that'll be the easiest way for him in the long run. (Who knows? Maybe the short run too.) In the mean time, though, he's a small, awkward boy surrounded by morally undeveloped, insecure teens something like him only not as burdened. I'm not sure I've ever felt this sorry for him, and there's nothing more I can do about it.
*They want to extend their junior high into a high school. Believe it or not, there's a precedent from at least one other "choice" school in the district. I understand why the kids like it: it's a small, close-knit school that has some of the most active teachers & parents in the district, plus a curriculum that encourages creativity and independence. I'm right there with them. I worry, though, about what would happen when they reach the giant, impersonal machine that is college, but what little information I have suggests that students from this school have done very well later in life.
no subject
Oy. I've given my son issues.
no subject
no subject