Summer School

My son is doing a blog for a summer school project. Yes, I admit my son is in summer school, he failed English by 2 points blowing his summer out of the water. When I spend too much time thinking about this and how his teacher could not bump him two points to pass, I lose it. On more than one occasion, I remind my boy that being the class pain gets you no extra points. Indeed, if he did not cause the teacher grief and actually a positive contributor to the class then my boy would now be in a canoe on a lake at camp. I would be $250 richer and life would be grand.

This week, in keeping with the age of the computing and social networking, his assignment is a blog. "Like your blog, Mom" happily disclosing. Oh yes, I remark "my blog logging daily reports of the washroom habits of both my sons." His head shot up "Really" chuckling. Yup. "I blog who urinated on the toilet seat, who craftily decorated the tiles with splash marks or who missed the bowl altogether and spattered the wall," quite seriously with a grin on the inside.

For more of a shock effect, I added in bedrooms and their cleanliness, just about then my attempt to shame him into submission and become the boy with the best bathroom etiquette is lost. I learn two things, SHAME never works and boys will be boys.

As for summer school, initially it devastated me my son failed a subject, I felt like a loser mom and blamed myself for his failure. I cried. Finally, I told my son that being the class clown in elementary school was cute and tolerated but welcome to high school. The teachers have no patients for idiotic behaviour and when it comes to grading the teacher will remember just that and not give you extra points for effort. In effect, you are casting an image as a pain and troubled kid and teachers talk. Welcome to high school, boy. Do I think my boy will change his ways and become a model student? Yes. No.

He is a comical guy who feeds off the reaction of his peers and enjoys the notoriety too much. This is the first time he truly felt the ill effects his prided skill so I think in two years he will get it. Summer school is a notch in his journey and I am sure there are a few more notches to be made before he gets a clear visual.