We had both good feelings and mixed feelings after talking to Petra, Martin’s teacher today. She is, at least, aware that she needs to keep an eye out for injustices on the part of the rougher boys towards Martin, and admitted that 1) things have been said and 2) she can’t be everywhere or see everything. We talked about the fact that Martin IS a sensitive kid and that he does wear all his emotions on his sleeve, so that he can easily be a target for those kids who think being tough and cool is the norm.
Then she told us that Martin has very high status among the kids, especially the girls (not surprising) and even among the boys, although not as much (again, not surprising), and that part of the problem stems from the fact that several of the other boys are ENVIOUS of Martin’s popularity. Because the girls all hang on him and with him and treat him special, the other boys get ignored by the girls they are trying to get the attention of, and since it’s Martin who is getting that attention, they, unsurprisingly, take it out on him when they get the chance. Apparently, it’s NOT that bad, and when it is the teacher reacts immediately, which is good.
To illustrate this, Petra said that she has been forced to seat the kids boy-girl-boy-girl when they are going to sit all together on the sofa and read, for example. This is mostly to cut down on the roughhousing and teasing that goes on between the other boys. If she announces they are going to read, one of the boys will immediately ask if they are going to sit boy-girl-boy-girl and when Petra says yes, at least 3 of the girls will go rushing out to wherever Martin is and ask him to sit next to them. I had a hard time keeping a straight face at this point. Not that his unwitting charm is any excuse for any of the kids to tease him, but it’s at least a little easier to understand what’s going on.
However, the problem of the older kids bothering the little ones is being addressed immediately, as she had a conference with another parent right before us, who complained of what sounded like the SAME boys bothering HER child. Pathetic that kids who are in the 5th grade (11 years old) find it necessary to pick on the 6-year-olds. 🙁
We went to McDonald’s for dinner because the kids had to have Gladiator stuff (don’t ask) and when we got home, I had an attack of fatigue so intense that I could barely stand up. And COLD, geez am I cold. I’m cold from the inside out. My fingers hurt and my feet ache. 🙁 argh Martin is coughing like Karin was last week, so we will keep an eye out for fever in the morning. I’m going to edit webpages for 40 minutes, watch West Wing and then go to bed with my toasty bag o’ beans.
I want one of these: Plush Microbes