Worry Wart

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Back to school ...

Major calendar events like the first day back to school afford the opportunity to reflect - to analyze success or failure of the previous time period - like summer break.

I was dreading Cam's unsupervised time this summer. The events of last summer were still vivid memories. Fortunately, the combination of two weeks of camps, vacationing with a friend for a week, an XBox 360 in the house, and maybe, just maybe, a little bit of maturing over the past year,kept Cam out of trouble. In fact, I'd even say he had a very successful summer.

Summer anxiety has now been replaced by school anxiety.

I continually remind myself that I have done a "decent" job of giving Cam the skills he needs to make good choices, while remembering that making choices for him gives him little opportunity to refine those skills. It's difficult to allow Cam the freedom to make bad choices, but I know he needs to feel their wrath, to see what doesn't work, so that he can know better and do better the next time. Cam's return to school - a school he will remain at until he navigates the path of good choices - brings a new set of challenges my way.

Cam's school performance these first two days has been less than "stellar" (I hate that word). How do I know? Well, every day Cam is given a Parent/Teacher Communication Form outlining his day - both positive and negative behavior, effort and academics. Yes, it reeks of the communications used in daycare centers for babies and toddlers, and Cam hates that I know this much about his day, but it holds him accountable and keeps me in the loop. Both good things.

But I worry ... boy do I worry! I worry that Cam is not grasping this school placement as an opportunity to succeed. I worry that Cam will never take his education seriously. I worry that the teachers and the staff at the therapeutic day school will tire of Cam, feeding his distorted expectations of adults in his life (they always give up on him). I worry that Cam's performance and behavior in school negatively reflects on my parenting. I worry that I don't know as much as I think I know about his challenges and what he needs to be successful. I worry that a day will come when I have no longer have the "strength" to keep trudging through the muck.

I worry ... boy do I worry ...

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Friday Wrap-Up

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Whew! TGIFF - no that's not a typo, but rather Thank God It's Friggin' Friday! It's been a very long week for a short holiday week. Somehow it never quite seems like a "break" when you have to go back to work and accomplish in 32 hours what you usually have 40 hours to accomplish!

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Cam went back to school (finally) yesterday. He had a longer than usual summer break as the middle school was undergoing significant renovations this summer - renovations that aren't yet complete, but at least the classrooms are finished and all of the lockers have locks.

I'm a bit apprehensive about this school year. Last year was a constant struggle, not only with Cam but with some of his teachers as well. The school has excellent on-line parental resources - the district has a parent portal with "real time" grading and the school itself has a homework assignment link. This should be exactly what I need to keep a thumb on my "Give him an inch he'll run a friggin' marathon" kid, however it requires that the teaching staff actually UPDATE the resources in a regular and timely manner - the component that was missing last year.

*sigh* We'll see ...

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It appears the issues with the debit card number theft have all but resolved themselves. All but the three smallest charges (totalling $25.90) were reversed before posting to my checking account. I'll have to call the bank this morning to have those last 3 charges reversed, file a police report this weekend, fill out and return the affidavit the bank sent to me, get a replacement debit card, and we'll all live happily ever after - just like the Big Bad Wolf - or not!

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Do you remember my Do You Have A Hall Pass post? The one where I discussed my views on the Senator James T. Meeks (I), 15th District, proposed "boycott" of Chicago Public Schools? I have no doubt some of you do *giggle*

Well, the proposed week-long boycott lasted two days. Day one - where it was expected 4000 students from CPS would board buses and register at the "privileged" New Trier High School - resulted in approximately 1500 completed registration packets. In other words, even though there was plenty of media attention, and transportation was provided, less than 1/2% of the CPS students participated. Hmmmm ...

Day two - where those same students were going to fill the lobby's of large, downtown high rise buildings to gain additional support, drew less than 500 participants, many of whom - when asked - had no idea what they were even protesting. Hmmmm ...

Not only that, but CPS lost roughly $50,000 in state school funding due to the attendance issues that resulted from this boycott. Hmmmm ...

Only time will tell if this boycott was successful and Illinois will address, and actually change, the ways in which public schools are funded, but based on current results, I have to wonder if this wasn't an attempt for Senator James T. Meeks to do a little campaigning rather than an actual attempt at change.

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