Well Aren't We Just All Slap Happy Today

I got a phone call from the school this afternoon. Apparently Luke hasn't turned in homework for two days, AND he hit someone today. Besides being waaaaay out of character for the kid, well, there is no besides. It's just not him at all.

After a rousing game of "is that the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" which evolved into "don't MAKE me call the other boy's mom!" I got the story that it was a game of slap that got out of hand. Luke was slapped harder than he would have preferred, and instead of saying something to the boy, or ending the game, he waited until the other boy wasn't expecting it and slapped him right back. As in, "let me slap some sense into you, boy" kind of slap.

*sigh*

We also addressed the homework bit, and I threatened the cancellation of a certain upcoming birthday party if any of the "I forgots" cropped up in the next few weeks. He's 90% sure that I mean it, which is too bad because I'm 110% sure that I mean it.

I deduced that we are too busy and run too much in the evenings, which in turn contributes to Luke being overtired, which is generally the cause of all problems. I determined that we need to stop running around and make him get more rest. Unfortunately, the running we do is for Becky's physical therapy and the corn maze. Neither can just wait for a more convenient time.

*sigh*

So I loaded up the kids to run Becky in to therapy, where Sam met me and took the boys to put out corn maze signs. (What are you gonna do? See above where neither can be put off for the sake of convenience.) Only silly me, because of the school drama I forgot to bring the dog along to drop off for a visit at her friend's house. I was given the sigh and "what the heck" eye from my ever loving husband because apparently I'm an incompetent boob. (I feel the love, dear!) I ran home, retrieved said dog, dropped her off at said house, and picked up Becky from therapy.

God is amazing, because it was determined at the therapy eval that Becky need not come back. There's THAT off the calendar three times a week at least.

Once home, we put Becky in charge while Sam and I drove around the county placing yard signs for the maze. I was adamant that we had to be home by 8:00 to get Luke to bed because we are NOT going to continue to be responsible for his homework failures. Things were going swimmingly (or as swimmingly as things can go when you have to stop, knock on doors, chat with friends, place signs in rocky turf, lather, rinse, repeat) and we were at the end of our road with ten minutes to spare before bedtime when Sam pulled off to place the very last sign. He pulled a wee bit too far off and the front corner of the car disappeared while the opposite back corner dangled a foot over the road.

Awesome.

I found the whole thing hilarious, myself. However, I refrained from laughing at the fact that my husband ditched the car because he never finds these things humorous. Neither did I yell and point out the obvious because OH MY GOSH I HATE THAT when he does it to me. You know, like it was my fault that the tow strap broke when he tried pulling it out because he didn't hear me say "Hold on, I'm not ready!" (Still feeling the love, dear.)

So we were late getting back to the house and Luke was nowhere to be found and I was all impressed that Becky had him go to bed on time. She was also baking chocolate chip cookies. She's a keeper.

I sampled a few cookies, wrote out corn maze schedule reminders for the first weekend's workers, cleaned up a bit, and sat down to read. That was when Luke made his appearance. An hour past his bedtime.

*sigh*

I guess tomorrow will be another slappy kind of day.

10 comments:

Michelle said...

Yeah... I feel ya. We're having the same kinds of issues here. I wrote a note back to the teacher saying that Mister Man did no activities after school and was in bed between 6:30 and 7 each night and I was somewhat at a loss... I wish it were as easy as knowing he was overtired. Small comfort, but comfort at least! (And yes, this is almost a post, I know... I've been debating it as tomorrow's post but I don't want it to jinx what he's almost earned as his reward.)

Yay to Becky's therapy being done though! And to patient husbands?

Suburban Correspondent said...

I can't remember - how old is he?

I highly recommend Ending the Homework Hassle by John Rosemond. It's funny, and it's helpful.

Viv said...

Wow. What a day! We started to have problems with our oldest not wanting to do homework about Luke's age...we still have them, now they're just worse.

HalfAsstic.com said...

Well, sh*t! Ain't that just the way!? I am in no way taking Luke's side in this ongoing saga, but is it just me or do the kids have tons more homework than they used to?

The Sports Mama said...

Must be some evil airborne virus that attacks boys under age 13. Must be.

I just got off the phone wityh Bug's school principal. Who informed me that he had been named as part of a group at the bus stop who are shooting things with rubber bands at other kids.And wouldn't you know it? Some kid got hurt. Forutnately, there have been no eyes put out yet; but I'm sure they're working on it.

And did I mention that this was the first EVER conversation I had had with this principal? Niiiice way to meet her, don'tcha think?

Lisa Page Rosenberg said...

That evening sounds like a practice run through the corn maze.

I think you will have an edge over the competition.

Karen said...

Lisa - thankfully running the maze is so much easier than dealing with kids. On most days.

Karen Deborah said...

Geritol with every meal for somebody anyway. You'll get him threw it. Glad Becky is on the mend! I would have laughed too.

Karen said...

Slap happy is the preferred state of mind around here. Sometimes it's the only thing you have left. Hang in there.

Anonymous said...

I suspect that we are going to find ourselves in a similar predicament when it comes to Cooper in just a few short years. Actually getting him to fall asleep has become much easier, but making him realize that 6:00 a.m. is just a tad too early for a 4-year-old to get up is not going so well.

Yeah for Becky being done with therapy and getting that off of the schedule! I would love to say that things will probably get better after the corn maze is over, but you know the time spent on it will just be replaced with something else. Such is life!