Written Up

I was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday morning. My internet connection was not cooperating with me to get some things done I needed to get done. I didn't feel good. I was mad at the internet provider and trying to decide what I could work on that didn't require the internet at that exact moment when the phone rang.

It was the Assistant Principal at Dakota's school.

This can't be good. He's never called here before. (As a side note, the AP has a very intimidating presence, as you can imagine).

He informs me that he's received a referral on Dakota.

What? My heart sank! I very slowly answer him "okay" because that's the only thing that would come out of my mouth at that moment. A bazillion things were running through my head in that 1.2 seconds before he spoke again.

He then says, "It's a positive referral. So, you can sit down and rest easy now." And then he laughs! How did he know I was pacing the floor, holding my breath, about to throw up??

He informed me that these are the best phone calls he gets to make all day. Because the school deals with so many negative referrals in a day, the staff has decided to start making positive referrals to try to counteract the negative. Her math teacher had "written her up" for the following:

Being respectful to staff, Acts of Politeness, Obeying staff, Helping other students, classroom participation, in dress code, possession of good attitude, on time to class, has proper materials everyday, completes homework.

The teacher commented: "Dakota is a model student because she participates in class, has a good attitude and is willing to help her fellow students!"

And the AP followed that up with: "This is my first time meeting Dakota and it was my pleasure. She seems to be a great young lady!"

So, what makes the story funnier is that Dakota was sitting in the AP's office, unbeknownst to me, when he called me. She had to give him my name and phone number so he could place the call. She had no idea why she was there or why he was calling her mom.

She had been called up to the office, which she didn't think anything about, but when she arrived they told her she could have a seat and the AP would be with her soon. Then HE comes out and tells her to go have a seat in his office and he would be there shortly. She said she about peed her pants. She had no idea why she was there! And she didn't find out until I did. And even then it didn't register, she sai.

I even got hubby at lunch by telling him that I had received a call from the AP and that she had been written up. He, too, said, What? I had him going for a minute until I spilled the beans. But when we got her version of the story yesterday afternoon we all laughed about it.

It was great to hear and see those things being said about my child. Especially yesterday. It made my day better and I know it made Dakota's better, too. The timing was perfect. She needed to hear that yesterday. Being 14 is tough. She's going through some growing pains, finding out that sometimes life stinks and it isn't always fair, and people aren't always who you think they are. And she needed some positive encouragement coming from somebody other than her stinkin' ole parents!