...and now, the rest of the story

Alright, I've had a couple of folks ask me to please blog about the rest of the Valentine's Day story. I owe it to you since I drew you in - but unfortunately it's not pretty.

Remember in junior high and high school how you could buy roses for people and send them along with a message on Valentine's Day? Well, they still do it, and they clearly don't edit or check the messages that get sent along with them. Someone sent G a rose "anonymously", and gave him a note to go along with it. All I'll say is that it was very nasty, inappropriate, and really heartbreaking. I still have it in my wallet because I think I thought I might find some way to hold someone accountable. Maybe run into one of the little vixens' Moms at the grocery story and chew them out or something.

To make it even worse, even though he was clearly the target of a nasty joke, he still clung desperately to the fact that someone sent him that rose. It was so sad, and I was so, so angry. I can't remember exactly how it all went down any more, either because it was a while ago or because I've blocked it out - but I do remember that it became abundantly clear that the girl he liked, who he asked to be his Valentine, was behind it along with her friends.

I won't even get in to the anger I still hold about this. Mama bear is at the end of her rope - another blog subject entirely.

So, even after all this happened, Griffin still wanted to go to the dance. I was still at work (the dances start around 4, shortly after school), so I told him, baby, you don't have to go - we can have a nice evening at home with the family. Nope, he still wanted to go, bless his heart. We had laid out some nice clean clothes, so he took a shower, got dressed, and went to that Valentine's dance all by himself.

Not 15 minutes after the dance should have started, I get a call from G, in tears. He had gotten all the way to the school, and they wouldn't let him in because he had lost his student i.d. Honest to God. After what this child had been through the last two days. He is walking home, in tears, all alone, because they won't let him into the dance without a student i.d. I still can't think about it without getting all riled up.

So that, my friends, is how my boy's Valentien's Day ended. Not pretty. And, to make a long story short, and for a multitude of reasons including all the poorly-raised children who bully and taunt my baby almost every day and an administration that is all talk and no action, I've already enrolled him in a small charter school for next year that has a performing arts emphasis.

I do want to go on the record as saying that I think this situation is a bit of an anomaly; our schools really are very good, and I know that our administrators, especially the "extras" like counselors and school psychologists, are stretched to their limits and working with less and less resources. Add to this a child like G who is in that gray area - needing some extra help and services, but not a clear-cut shoe-in for an IEP or obvious diagnosis (in the eyes of the school system, anyway) - and you've got a kid who is going to fall through the cracks if Mom and Dad don't do something on their own.

The good news? G's grades are inching up after hiring an after-school sitter/tutor for the kids. He's also taking a second round of acting classes, which really raises his spirits and makes him feel confident. He's kind of excited about the new school - although not so excited about wearing a uniform. I think I'm just ready, like most parents, for this school year to be over.