A Mom With the Right Attitude

Last year when the school board came out with our inclement weather make-up plan, it involved using our winter holidays (MLK Day, Presidents Day and Good Friday) to make up the school we missed due to weather, over the measly three days we are allotted.

No one raised a fuss.  Not a peep.  And, keep in mind, the school board meetings are open to the public and the school board is elected by the public so there was plenty of opportunity for the public to have some input.  If they cared enough...

But oh my, when it actually came to implementing the plan (with MLK Day the first day we used), you would have thought that some big vast conspiracy was afloat.  (For the record, we had to make up days last year, but we didn't go over our limit until after MLK Day so we didn't have to use it as a make-up day.  We did use President's Day and Good Friday and no one squawked.)

We had a lot of absent kids, but, for the most part, very few kids who had notes stating that they were at some of the regional MLK celebrations.  Most of our kids were absent because (a) the parent is so clueless they didn't get the phone call/email/read the paper/watch the news to figure out we were going to school and the kids sure as hell weren't going to tell them of (b) they had plans made for the three day weekend already and most of them didn't involve any sort of MLK celebration.

So, the kids that were there were, for the most part, completely accepted the fact that we were making up a snow day, buckled down and got to work and didn't whine.

Drama Boy, a boy I had last year and who is now in 8th grade, was apparently whining a big about going to school to Mrs. Sandpiper's room next door.  He wasn't happy he was in school on MLK day.

"So, what did your mother say about it?" Mrs. Sandpiper asked.  We both have always liked Drama Boy's mom because she's pretty much no-nonsense when it comes to school and Drama Boy's drama.

"She said that if Martin Luther King were alive today, he'd want me in school getting my education," Drama Boy replied.  "And you can't argue with that."

No you can't.  Perhaps that would be a better way to celebrate the day - put a focus on getting an education and being the best person you can be.