the camera's on

so my class this year includes the usual suspects - a few hyperactives, a couple space-cases, and then the new cast of characters.  in the past i've had "fleapox", "the sailor", "the lurcher", "my package", and "triple espresso".  "mentiroso" and "cheese" (the child formally known as "match boy" for those of you who speak to me in real life) are the newbies.  it changes every year.  anyway, here is the story of "cheese".  "cheese" is new to my school and the first grade having completed (if you can call it that) kindergarten twice and then transferring to our school.  he was kicked out of an afterschool program for stabbing another child with a pencil and then attempting to do so several more times.  he was suspended from kindergarten (the first time) because he kicked his teacher (who was 9 months pregnant - wow.  just missed that one, huh?) in the stomach.  he's been medicated since he was in preschool for a ridiculous amount of disorders, including oppositional defiance disorder, bipolar, and possibly schizophrenia.  anyway, it all came together for me last week when i met his mother during parent/teacher conferences.  she tells me:

"oh!  if he ever acts up, just tell him the camera is on"

i said, "and what does that mean?"

"oh! you'll love this!" she gushes.  i doubt that i will.

"his father and i have told him that we've implanted cameras behind his eyes so that we can see when he gets in trouble"

i stare at her with my mouth wide open.  ya right lady.  i'm gonna tell your schizo son that you've secretly implanted something in his body.  sure.  and i wondered why he was so messed up.  say cheese.

scoob-a-rama

here are the latest scoob pix.  i don't know why they're so wonky in their placement.  don't hate.  just love this smile!  =)

we're back.

so much to say.  not enough time to say it.  not enough fingers to type.  =)  so i'm just going to start spilling out everything and add some pictures too.  

1.  the other night the scoob and i shared an experience that was absolutely supernatural.  he had just finished eating and i was giving him the burps.  when all of a sudden and without warning, he burped - along with a fire hose of spit up.  it was like that scene in the exorcist with the pea soup.  we had spit up all over me, all over the scoob, and all over the couch (i guess he wants to make sure we get new couches soon).  it was pretty disgusting but he was totally fine with it and didn't seem disturbed by it at all.  hmmm... should i be worried?

2.  matt and i just finished up parent/teacher conferences.  wow.  to all of our friends who are parents and those who may become parents in the future...  i issue a warning:  DON'T BE A WACKADOO.  i learned more disturbing information about some of my students and their families than i care to know... and the problem is that the disturbing parts are usually on the parents end - not the kid.  and then i see why my kiddos are soooooooo messed up.  although, with that said, let me issue a second warning:  DON'T LIE TO ME TO TRY AND COVER UP YOUR WACKADOODLE-NESS.  i will find out.  your kid talks to me.  i know your messed up little secrets whether you want me to or not.  so don't lie to make me think you're normal.  we both know that you're not and it's going to come out eventually - either here with me, in the middle of a class discussion, or in a meeting with all of the school support staff (when we talk about how messed up you are) and it will be VERY EMBARRASSING.  trust me.  

3.  i have several students (with nicknames to maintain their anonymity - you know how i do) that i need to blog about, but this is not the blog.  stay tuned.

4.  on to more important news.  the scoob has been smiling like a crazy person!  smiles all the time!  and newly added cooing and gurgling.  we're getting lots of "ah-goo" action.  sometimes you make a sound for him and he looks at you with his mouth wide open and it looks like he's trying SO HARD to make that noise himself but his little mouth just can't do it yet.  i can't help it that he's absolutely adorable.  neither can he so don't be jealous.  =)  i'm adding some new scoob pics at the top.

We've Moved!

Okay - not physically...  technologically?  I mean we have a new blog.  This one.  I figure it can be used for the whole fam to detail our complicated lives (it's complicated) from school to home.  Matt and I both have jobs now; I'm First grade at Juniper and Matt is 5th grade at Rose.  I've got a bunch of thugs in my class (more on that later).  Jack Crash (we call him "The Scoob") is awesome.  He has a whole entourage of loving peeps to watch him while Mom and Pops are at work.  I've got some good posts brewing about him too...  Anyway, we're starting up this blog.  I'll keep a link to Jack's old one but this is the one to watch.  Excitement is in the air...  =)

love, sam