Ugh!!! For The Love Of God!!!

So, yeah...  crappy day.  I got an email from the principal about Dayton's behavior at recess...  which was not good...  another accident...  I'm ready to just pull him out of school...  but feeling if I do, I'm the worst parent ever...  but I can't stand it anymore, and I'm so ready for summer break...  are we there yet?!  Nope, one more week to go...  I just want to curl up in a fetal position and cry or sit in a chair facing the corner, rocking back and forth while I suck on my thumb, mumbling about how much I love my life.  Perhaps what I really need is a melt down of my own.

It seems a little girl brought a yo-yo to school.  During recess, she played with it and it broke.  Dayton picked up a broken piece of the yo-yo and threw it over the fence onto the street.  Of course it doesn't end there.  The piece of yo-yo he threw, bounced off a...  wait for it...  A TEACHER'S BRAND NEW CAR.  That's right.  Of course, since I have a horse shoe stuck up my butt, it doesn't end there either.  There is a ding in the car.  Naturally, since it is a brand new car, the teacher is rightfully upset, and is going to autopac to place a claim.

The principal doesn't believe Dayton did this maliciously or intentionally.  God bless her.  Maybe she's just happy that she's retiring and won't have to deal with this any more, or maybe she really thinks he didn't do this on purpose.  Either way, I'm at a loss as to what to do with Dayton.

When I read the email, I immediately called the school and asked to speak with the principal.  She told me his aid  was standing right beside him when Dayton threw the piece of yo-yo at the car.  "He was just so fast!  But Lou, he feels remorse.  He's writing a letter of apology."

I'm seriously debating whether or not I should either pull Dayton out of school, or show up to school with him.  I figure if I go to school with him, I'd bring my camping chair and book and sit outside the classroom.  Maybe if Dayton knows I'm there, he'll keep his impulses under check?  I don't want to interfere with the classroom, but during breaks, I'd be right beside him, holding his hand?  But this would be embarrassing to him, wouldn't it?  It would not send the right message to his peers, would it?  Not to mention my own health.  My kidney stone, I found out today, measures 6 ml in diameter.  I couldn't run after the little monkey, and he knows it!

Talking to Dayton, he swears it was an accident.  "I didn't aim for the car momma..."
"What were you thinking?!"
"I'm not allowed to bring toys to school."
"So what?!?!"
"She shouldn't have brought her toy to school."
Oh for the love of God!!!  What am I supposed to say to that?
"Dayton, when you bring a toy to school, you play with it all day, and refuse to do anything else."
"I wanna do what the rest of them do."
"I'm sure there are other kids who don't bring toys to school."
"Na-ahhh.  I'm the only one."
"Dayton, it is my rule then that you shouldn't bring toys to school."
"Then you should tell everyone else to keep their toys at home too."
"What about the pop you took from another student?"
"Buy me pop and I'll stop."
"No Dayton.  You know how hyper you get when you drink pop.  That's why I don't buy you pop."
"Then tell the other kids not to bring pop to school."
"Dayton, I can't talk to the rest of the students and tell them what they can and can not bring to school."
"Why?"
"Cause I'm not the principal."
"Why?"
"If other kids jumped off a bridge, would you follow them?"
"Which bridge?"
"It was a metaphor Dayton."
"What's a metaphor?"
Ugh...  Shoot me now.  "It's an expression Dayton,"
"You should be the principal."
And now I'm laughing, and laughing hard.  I think he'd start to hate me if I became his principal.  The school would be on lock down at all times.

I feel for the little guy.  He sees others bringing their toys, pop and chocolate bars, something Dayton's not allowed to have.  The school has told me not to allow Dayton to bring toys to school, so if there are other kids bringing them, he feels he's being wronged.  And he is.  But how is the school supposed to deal with his obsession over the toy he brings?  He can't focus on anything but his toy, so what are we to do?  School policy is to leave toys at home, but it really isn't being enforced if his classmates are playing with bayblades during recess.  Bayblades they brought from home.  He wants to bring his bayblade to school, but I always told him not to.  Other kids bring their iPods or MP3 players to school, but Dayton's not allowed to.  But what can I do?  Demand change in a school I have been persona non gratta in?  What can I do???
Ugh...  If my hair wasn't so damn light, I'd be pulling my hear out, but what's that going to accomplish?

What to do, what to do, what to do, what to do...  Did I say what to do?


Consider yourselves hugged,


Lou