Monday, November 2, 2009

One Of Those Feakin' Days

I swear. Some days I don't know why I get out of bed. Things start off bad, and they just continue to get worse.

Let's start with my son. When this first happened, I promised not to tell anyone, so that meant no blogging about it. But now he doesn't care, so I have permission to vent a little.

Last Wednesday, I got a phone call from his school. It was one of the assistant principals. He said that the day before, Ryan and two other kids were in the hall, and they were playing with a rubber bracelet that Ryan had brought to school. One of the kids...a girl...took the bracelet and wouldn't give it back. Ryan grabbed her arm to get her to give it to him.

Apparently, this is against school policy.

The girl had broken her arm in three places over the summer, had surgery on it, and when Ryan grabbed her, he twisted it, and she ended up in the nurses office. When she went home and told her parents, they wanted the boy who hurt their daughter suspended.

So he was...for one day.

The assistant principal felt really bad, because he watched the video (I had no idea they had cameras in the halls) and saw that the kids were just horsing around, and there was no viciousness in what Ryan did. He was just trying to get his bracelet back. SO when Ryan got home, I asked him what happened, and he said it was during tutoring. His math teacher decided to work on her bulletin board in the hallway instead of tutoring, and the kids were out there fooling around with her. Now, Ryan is pulled out of another class for tutoring, and if he was doing nothing but hanging out in the hallway, he should have stayed in his regular class.

So Ryan stayed home Thursday, and was my slave. He cleaned, did laundry, washed dishes...all my housework. I mean, he needed to be punished for getting suspended, but it wasn't like he beat someone up. He did what we would all do...it was a reflex action almost. But, he needs to learn to control those reflexes, so he was put to work.

He went back to school on Friday, and this teacher pulled him into the hallway for a private chat when he got to her class. She wanted to thank him for getting her in trouble.

That's right. SHE was in the hallway instead of tutoring...SHE let the kids horse around while she just stood there...SHE was more interested in winning some pizza party bulletin contest.

But it's Ryan's fault that she got into trouble when they watched the video. I should mention that this is the teacher who refused to let Ryan go to the nurse/office last year after he got jumped in the hallway. We have had issues before. Luckily, she moved up to 8th grade this year, so Ryan was lucky enough to get her again. Please note the sarcasm in that last sentence.

She also told him that because he was suspended, as much as she wanted to punish him more, she couldn't. However, if they win the pizza party, she will make him sit and watch the other kids eat and not be able to participate.

Seriously, people, WTF?????

So he comes home Friday and tells Junior and I ( and Missy), but there is nothing I could do, until today.

I want him out of her class. That was extremely unprofessional, and just mean, to pull him out of class and blame him for getting into trouble. My belief is that if she was tutoring like she should have been, the kids wouldn't have been in the hall, they wouldn't have been horsing around, and Ryan never would have been suspended. She didn't do this to any of the other kids who were horsing around with him...just him.

So, this morning, I had him go to guidance first thing, and see if there is a class he can switch into without changing his entire schedule. (he is doing soo good this year...I don't want to mess with that too much) He called me and said there was a class, so I called the assistant principal I dealt with last week to get him switched. When I finally got him on the phone and told him what happened, he said "that doesn't sound like her...she is usually very fair with the kids". You know what? I don't care how she usually is...I only care about what she did to my child. He asked if I had spoken to her about this, and I informed him that that was not a good idea, because I was too upset. I explained how this is not the first incident with Ryan, and I just want him switched. He said that he would have to speak to the teacher, and he would call me back. (she was out of school today, so I will hear from him tomorrow) I just don't understand why he couldn't switch him today. I don't care what the teacher says, I want Ryan out of her class, and I will do whatever I have to do to make that happen.

Ug, so that was my morning.

Then, Junior called around 1:30, and he was pissed. Remember me bitching about those check advance places that were giving us a hard time? Well, we have been working with them, and paying a little every two weeks when Junior gets paid, and it's been fine. I was stressed over nothing. But today, when Junior went into the place to make a payment, they told him not to bother because they got their money this morning. It seems they have been calling the bank every morning, and since we deposited Junior's check on Friday, there was money in our account so they took it.

All of it that was in there.

They took our rent payment, which will now bounce.

I wrote a check for groceries, which will now bounce.

In total, we have five checks that will bounce. Junior called our landlords, and made arrangements to bring them some money tomorrow, but now we have to pay a bounced check fee with them, on top of the $34 the bank will charge. We will be charged a $34 fee for every check, and then whatever those places charge when we go to pick those checks up. We tried calling the grocery stores, and they can't do anything until the checks come back to them.

So, I went online today and applied to open a checking account at another bank. I guess because I did it online it takes a few days to process, so they said I should hear something tomorrow or the next day. I don't know why we wouldn't be approved. If we're not, I am screwed, because I need somewhere to transfer my money to that I make online, and the stupid check place told Junior she will take every cent we deposit until they get all of their money, which I think is another $250. How they can do this, I have no idea.

BUT, we did write them two checks, and we do owe them money. I am not debating that. They just refused to work with us, and then screwed us. It is our own fault. I am not blaming anyone but ourselves. We made a huge frickin' mistake, and now I don't know how to get out of this hole. Luckily, we were able to get some money to cover rent, so we will be okay.

We will be okay.

We will be okay.

We will be okay.

3 comments:

Miranda said...

Oh my a totally crappy day! (((Big hugs))) I hope its better for you today! Hang in there, stay strong!

A.Marie said...

wow! I've never used one of those check cashing places, but my neighbor has, and they have never done that to her. She pays them back every two weeks, until the balance owed is paid in full. I cannot believe that they can access a bank account. For a great online bank, copy and paste this link:
http://home.ingdirect.com/products/products.asp?s=ElectricOrange

I use them and have been very pleased!

Don't let the school push you around. If you don't advocate for your son, no one will. If you can't get anywhere with the Asst Principal, go to the Principal or the Superintendent. That teacher needs to be stopped. I have dealt with teachers like her before, and like you, I don't care if they "normally don't act like that."

Good Luck!

Jenera said...

Oy vey!

We had an issue with a payday place as well. We told them we were filing bankruptcy and the next payday of Daniel's, they took everything without having any authorization from us-we hadn't paid in a couple of months. Oh I lost it! They will basically get screwed for that and have to pay back double due to BK laws but having your entire check gone is terrible. I know that feeling!

As far as your kid, I'd go slap the teacher, lol. That is insane that she took him aside and blamed him. And regardless if that is how she 'normally' acts, the principal should have checked it out.