Trouble at school

Yesterday, when I picked up the kids from school, I asked, as always, how their day was. The Girl yells out “GOOD!” The Boy mumbles something incoherent. I ask him what he said. He says it was not so good – he got into trouble. Uh oh. The Boy is a good kid. He does not get into trouble often. Actually, neither does The Girl. The are both really well behaved…AT SCHOOL.

I ask what happened and he says it is hard to tell me without crying again. I’m already thinking it must be pretty big. I make a point not to yell because I know if I do, he will cry.

He begins telling the story. In a nutshell, he says he and another child were in the bathroom and the other boy had made a paper boomerang. The Boy was intrigued and wanted to know if it really worked. He threw it and it landed, of course, in the urinal. Being 9-yr-old boys both thought this was hysterical and they laughed a great deal. Another child came into the bathroom and asked what was so funny. The Boy relayed the events to the other child, who, for whatever reason found NO humor in the situation. Apparently, that child informed a teacher so when The Boy and his friend went back to their classroom, they were stopped by a teacher who, in turn, told their teacher. The Boy and his friend missed a performance at school and were made to sit in the office and do extra schoolwork.

My job in all this is to maintain a straight face. Luckily, we were in the car – The Boy could not see me laughing. Sad as it is, my own humor sometimes mimics that of a 9-yr-old boy. Ok – who am I kidding – it often mimics that of a 9-yr-old boy! This is funny stuff. A paper boomerang landing upright in a urinal?! Who doesn’t want to laugh at that?!

When we get home, The Boy realizes he must tell The Husband. I ask to intervene at first – wanting to make sure The Husband agrees with me that the issue is resolved – it was taken care of at school and no further punishment is needed. The Husband is hardly able to contain himself. He is upset but not because of what The Boy did – he is upset that The Boy got into trouble for it. I have to remind The Husband that we cannot encourage this behavior in The Boy…even when it is funny.

The note home says, “[The Boy] was caught playing w/another student in the bathroom. They were throwing paper torpedoes and so they missed a music show today. :( ” I signed and it will be returned.