Cruel Summer

‘Twas the first day of summer school for the boys. They were not thrilled about going, and they made sure to let me know days in advance.

There was moaning, groaning, dragging of the feet, pouting, even refusal to get out of the car that first day. I sure felt like this was going to be a one time thing, and they would get over it.

Well, I got the call about 12:45, right when I was finishing up from the gym. It was the principal of the school. She was calling to inform me of the behavior from both boys.

Adam had just not been participating, and falling asleep in the classroom. Austin on the other hand, made a rude and disrespectful remark to his teachers. Apparently, he said something along these lines: “You’re going to get paid regardless, if I work or don’t do the work, so I might as well just sit here.” oh no he didn’t!!! I had to apologize, and she told me the boys weren’t welcome back to summer school, because they didn’t have the staff to handle the re-directing or even a separate classsroom to handle them. They were both being disruptive and it wasn’t ok.

I felt helpless in that moment. I tried to encourage the boys at the very beginning, the whole reason they were even attending summer school. They had both missed quite a few days of school, due to being sick, therefore their grades had suffered quite a bit. It was more out of helping them be more prepared for their upcoming year of 6th and 7th grades. They didn’t buy it. They thought it was pointless and were super annoyed to even give it a chance.

So, here I was, thinking what can I do with them now? Boys and Girls Club was where they were going for the summer, but this would not be a consequence for how they had just behaved at summer school, and basically getting kicked out..

So, I had a talk with them that evening, and my dad just happened to pop over at that time. He offered to take them with him to work, and put them to work with outside projects! This would be absolutely perfect, and just what they needed. I know they weren’t excited about that either, but they worked long hours, and are almost finished with their work week.

I also took their electronic devices away until who knows when… hahahaha

They are acting depressed and hate their lives, but we will see how long this will last. I will try to make life more fun for them. 🙂