Delicate Negotiations

The problem with not blogging for a couple of days is that I wind up with so much to say that I can't figure out what to say first and wind up not saying anything at all. Which is how I'm feeling now. Where to start?

The husband and the teen are off getting haircuts and probably picking up a soda or lunch or something while they're out. We had a big fight with him last night and this is a repair-the-relationship kind of things.

We got a letter from the school. The teen has not been doing his homework or handing in his assignments for one of his classes. He's been doing very well in his other classes, so this was a surprise. Although I suppose it shouldn't have been, since the same thing happened last year with one of those classes.

So, two things to do here. 1) Talk with the teen and get his side of what's happening. 2) Call the teacher and find out what he's missing and what he can make up, if he can make up anything.

The teen, when we broached the subject, blew up all over the place. I suppose it's not strictly accurate to call it a fight. That takes two, right? The teen yelled, stomped around, slammed doors and complained that we weren't fair and that it was all his teacher's fault. We stayed calm, stayed seated, and stuck to our guns. Certain privileges that were contingent on getting at least a C in all classes will not be happening. It's nice that he's getting a couple of A's and a couple of B's. We're proud of him and glad for him. Nevertheless, the F from this one class can't be ignored.

He's very anxious that we not talk to his teacher, which makes me feel fairly certain there's more going on than we realize. We'll have to handle this carefully so that he doesn't just decide to hate his teacher and quit putting any effort at all into the class. It's a pattern he has followed before, when he was living with his mother.

Just a few years ago I was thinking, "Oh, he's growing up so fast!" Now I tend to think to myself, "Oh, please, please hurry up and grow out of this stage!"