School lessons

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The summer of 2018 was winding down, and I felt excited.  For the first time in 18 years, all of my kids were going to be in school!  While I did have moments of sadness and disbelief, I was mostly ecstatic.

A whole school day to myself?  The thought was intoxicating.  I started counting down the days.  As the first day approached, I began feeling a little apprehensive.  Will Tucker be ok?  More importantly, will his teacher like him?  Will he do well in school?

The big day came, and everyone got to school.  I said my goodbyes and walked out the front door to a new freedom scarcely imagined.I honestly cannot remember what I did that day.  I may have done nothing, and it was wonderful.  I do remember that first week, because on the second or third day of school, I got a phone call from Tucker's kindergarten teacher.

Uh-oh.

I knew a phone call this early was not going to be good.  Something was going down at that school, and my son was in the thick of it.

Here's the story:

Our school district had something new in 2018.  A police officer was stationed at every school.  We had Officer Tori.  I had never met this woman, but she immediately became a household name for us that year.

Tucker saw Officer Tori, and he saw her gun.  He reached for the gun and tried to grab it.  She responded immediately by putting her hand on her gun and told Tucker not to touch it.  Apparently, that made Tucker pretty mad.  He started to walk away, but then ran back and kicked Officer Tori a few times.  Well, that display got Tucker a time-out in the cafeteria and a phone call to his mom.His teacher explained how she had handled things, and then asked me to talk to Tucker when he got home.  I did.

We talked a lot about guns and police officers and why we don't kick people, even when we want to kick them.  I finally asked him why he was reaching for the gun at all?

"I just wanted to keep the gun in my pocket, Mom."

Oh, little Tucker.

The rest of the year went by quite smoothly, and I didn't receive any more phone calls about my kids getting into trouble.  In fact, Tucker and Officer Tori became buddies.  I was so glad she could forgive him and move on.

I'm grateful for school and all the things my kids have learned there.  I look forward to the day when they all get to go back and be taught so much more than math and science.  My kids are learning lots of new things at home as well, but I miss the teachers and nurses and officers and counselors.  I liked the group effort.

See you all again soon.  I hope.