Monday I was well enough to play dodgeball at lunch time, but probably shouldn’t have. Ryle House needed the points so I had to do my part. I got a call at 1:20 pm and it was from OBH. Dear me! When will this end? Apparently Jack had shoulder budged a kid into the wall after lunch. It seems the kid didn’t say ‘good match’ as Jack would have wanted. I still think there is something deeper and now feel others are goading Jack because they know he has been in a bit of trouble these first few weeks of school. These are not western kids, they are local kids. As the children get older it is definitely an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality.
We got home in time to get the kids a sandwich and head back to the rugby club. On the way home we spoke with Jack again about his behavior, a bit frustrated and not knowing what to do or how to help solve the issues. I had informed OBH that Jack was not to play football (soccer) during break time until further notice. I was hoping this would be a solution. We got to the club and I was upset and couldn’t hardly
concentrate because of the issues Jack was having. I think if I felt he was the type of kid who was in trouble from time to time, it might be easier to handle. But Jack has never been in trouble at school. After Jack’s training we all came home. Stuart decided not to train in the end. Then Millie decided she was going to play Touch rugby this year which also trains on Mondays and Wednesdays. I was actually pretty excited because her gymnastics class has lost its gym and can’t find another place to train, so I want her involved in something. Once we were home everyone showered, got some food and headed to be in their respective order.
Tuesday school was busy as always. We were to go to a swim gala after school for Jack. He would be swimming two years up for this. We had a staff briefing and only made his last race. He raced with the Year 9 boys in the freestyle relay. He was the first leg and got them a huge lead. They won first place and Brighton College won the gala.
We got an email at the end of the day regarding further sanctions for Jack in reference to what happened on the Monday. The email was appalling and said things that we asked not be written in emails. I’m convinced that OBH is clinical and is afraid to communicate face to face. It’s frustrating and I will carry this further for sure. The email basically said Jack’s consequences could be but not limited to being removed from all sporting fixtures if his behavior didn’t improve significantly. All I could think of was ‘my kid LIVES for competition. If he loses that, we will lose him’.
We headed to the club for touch rugby. Jack’s team didn’t win but they played really well. Playing adult teams is character building and increases their level of play for sure. We got home for dinner and showers. Millie went to bed before Jack, but he went shortly after. I stayed up stewing over the email we received. I ended up crying myself to sleep, but not until I went to lay in Jack’s bed with him. I just needed to remember how much I love and pray for this child and his well-being.
Wednesday morning I went to the senior school to speak to Jack’s house master, Mr Keddie, whom I respect a great deal. I decided I would not meet with OBH any more as his communication skills frustrate me. Mr Keddie explained that something really bad would have to happen to exclude Jack from all athletic fixtures for the rest of the year. It could be that if he has a bump again then he might sit out of one competition, which I understand and would support. In fact I would make him attend the competition and support his team, being able to see the effects of his misbehavior. I felt better after my conversation with Mr. Keddie. He also told me he would email Jack’s teachers to ask them to report on his classroom behavior. And as we suspected, he is having no issues in classes. In fact, every teacher was very complimentary about his efforts and assistance to others in class. It’s just in the unstructured times he has difficulty.
After school MILLIE had her first bench ball game. It’s played a little like net ball. She loves it!
And her team won.
Wednesday evening we went to the club and Millie played with her new touch team. She loved it and reported that Coach Dave said she was awesome. That kid has no issues with self esteem. The regular routine resumed when we got home. It had been a long week and I looked forward to the weekend for sure.
Thursday after school Jack served his detention with the head of the Senior School, Mr Hill. Once he was finished we visited with Mr Hill for a bit. I told him how devastated Jack would be to lose all sporting events for the rest of the year. It was all he could do to not roll his eyes. I know he was not impressed by OBH’s email either.
Millie has gone on a play date with her friend after school on Thursday. Once Jack served his time we headed home and then to the club for the Boot Sale. The weather was total crap and there wasn’t much of a turnout, unfortunately. They were also setting up for the Al Ain Pet Festival for the following day. We ended up coming back to our house with Sean. We didn’t do anything for dinner until Sean had gone home. The kids went to bed at a relatively decent hour. Their week nights are so busy that we almost have to keep to their regular bedtimes at the weekend as well.
Friday morning I was up and passing out flyers for the annual Halloween Trick or Treat in the Village. I can’t really understand how this country allows trick or treating, but it’s happened every year we’ve been here and now this year I’m in charge of it. It’s actually a great community builder. We all gather outside our houses and sit in lawn chairs. Then children come around and we pass out candy. If people who don’t live in the Village was to come all they have to do is bring a couple of bags of candy and drop them off at one of the houses. It’s really a great night. And this year Halloween is on Thursday, which is our last day of the week.
After the flyers were all passed out I came home. Stuart has taken Millie to a birthday party. It was at the mall but the invitation didn’t specify where. So imagine our surprise when it was at the ice skating rink and Millie was in a sun dress. Oops! Stuart went to the local H&M and bought her leggings, a long sleeve top and socks. All sorted! He did pretty well.
Cathy went with me to pick her up and we had a pumpkin spice latte once she was collected. When we got back to the house we headed to the pet festival at the club. Duchess and Duke went with us. They had a blast. It wasn’t as well attended as expected but we had a good afternoon. We headed back to our house for burritos. Cathy and Sean came as well. Lara and Brian were supposed to come over but they stayed at the club later than expected.
Duke enjoyed his seat in the water bucket.
Both dogs were hot and panting.
Saturday morning we got up and I made pumpkin coffee cake from scratch. I was well
Impressed with myself. Stuart went to Sean’s and I followed when my cake was finished. Sean was getting a tattoo and our friend Tiff was supposed to as well, but she chickened out. We spent the day over there watching Sean wince with pain and we also watched some movies. We ordered food from 101 cafeteria for lunch and then came home just before dinner time. Stuart promised Jack we would order food from McDonalds. Lucky kids to have McDonalds twice in one week, or irresponsible parents? You be the judge!
Just after dinner the kids took showers and settled in for the night. We were all hopeful for a better week at school.
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