A Flub with the Sub

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My phone rang this morning at around 8:15. The caller ID listed the kids’ school, and as always when this happens, I began to wonder who has a fever, or who threw up, and I picture my day starting to re-arrange itself and whatever plans have been made, to take care of a sick kiddo. And you know as well as I do that those plans have now been altered to include a few extra loads of laundry if the culprit is a stomach bug. In my head, I begin to plan a quick trip to HEB to pick up an extra bottle of kids’ Motrin, and 7-Up… all this before I even pick up the phone. Phil always says I assume the worst… I say I’m a realist.

So, when I hear my 1st grade son’s voice, “Hi Mommy,” I immediately panic, and say “What’s wrong?!” Usually when one of the kids is sick, it’s our sweet little school nurse with the apologetic voice who is calling.

“Sweetie, what’s wrong? Why are you calling?”

Silence.

For some reason, I start to imagine that he is hiding somewhere in the school, in an empty classroom or closet, and just decided to give me a quick buzz to let me know that even though the principal, his teacher, and half the fire department are ransacking the school searching for him, that he’s okay and just wanted to say ‘Hi!’

“Honey, where are you? What's wrong?!! Are you sick?” As it turns out, nobody was sick. Nobody was hiding. Nobody was doing anything…
...other than having to call Mommy to tell me that he had to sign the ‘Behavior Book’ when he had a substitute for his class. Not once, but twice. Keep in mind that if we had one of these books at home, this is the child that would have to sign it everyday… heck, we’d probably have to just attach it to his belt loop, so he didn’t miss a step when he signed it, yet again. But he very rarely misbehaves in school. In his teacher’s words, he’s very ‘happy-go-lucky’… who knew?!

So, I will absolutely take this seriously, and he will receive consequences, but I also have to admit that part of me is thinking… “It’s a substitute teacher, Staci. Everybody misbehaves a little for the sub.” (Okay, well maybe not Josie. SHE’S the kid that reports back to the teacher when she gets back, and has the list of offenders written on a piece of notebook paper in her desk... and the list is alphabetized.)

I just always kind of had that expectation back in the olden days when I was a teacher. Kids aren't always on their best behavior for substitute teachers. And the longer the sub is there, the more likely kids are to misbehave. And evidently Day #3 with the substitute just put it over the top for my kid. I guess what I'm saying is that I've decided to just take it all with a grain of salt. And I think his teacher feels the same way, but still felt obligated to have all the ‘guilty parties’ call their parents (oh yes, she assured me that he was definitely not alone in his antics). And I am very glad she had him call and take responsibility for his actions.

So now the question…what is a fitting punishment for throwing food on the floor of the cafeteria? Losing a toy? Being grounded? I’ve thought long and hard about this, and I think I’ve come to a workable solution that will help him learn his lesson.

He will be mopping our kitchen floor tonight. Sounds fair, right? It will hopefully remind him that someone has to clean up the cafeteria, and that throwing food on the floor is not only wasteful, but makes someone else’s job harder.

And maybe if I play my cards right, he’ll have to sign the Behavior Book next week, too. ;-)