Paddy the Hero
When Paddy first got home from South Africa, we were concerned that he seemed so subdued and stressed, but he soon recovered his sense of humor and started singing along again with the highly eclectic selection of music he listens to all day at the computer.
Listening to his accounts of his experience and his concern for the other kids, I was under the impression that he was better off than most of them. Then, when we went to the meeting at school last week to discuss what had happened and how to deal with it, I was quite astonished to hear the other kids say again and again "but it wasn't nearly as bad as Paddy's situation". And when they described difficulties they had encountered, we also heard several times, "so I was glad that Paddy was there with me."
I am now seriously impressed with my younger son.
The parents' representatives from the class did an excellent job of preparing the meeting (with support from my wonderful husband), and I think it went well on the whole. I think it was important to clarify where mistakes had been made to make sure they are not repeated in the future. I was also glad that it was agreed to continue plans for the second part of this exchange, to bring kids from South Africa here and to make sure that all goes well for all of the kids this time – from Austria and from South Africa.
I think this is what they call a "learning experience", but I also think that what we as parents have learned most is that we have a bunch of great kids here.
Listening to his accounts of his experience and his concern for the other kids, I was under the impression that he was better off than most of them. Then, when we went to the meeting at school last week to discuss what had happened and how to deal with it, I was quite astonished to hear the other kids say again and again "but it wasn't nearly as bad as Paddy's situation". And when they described difficulties they had encountered, we also heard several times, "so I was glad that Paddy was there with me."
I am now seriously impressed with my younger son.
The parents' representatives from the class did an excellent job of preparing the meeting (with support from my wonderful husband), and I think it went well on the whole. I think it was important to clarify where mistakes had been made to make sure they are not repeated in the future. I was also glad that it was agreed to continue plans for the second part of this exchange, to bring kids from South Africa here and to make sure that all goes well for all of the kids this time – from Austria and from South Africa.
I think this is what they call a "learning experience", but I also think that what we as parents have learned most is that we have a bunch of great kids here.
posted by Aileen at Sunday, October 29, 2006
1 Comments:
In my own defence, all I can say is that I was told it was agreed that the text would be read out loud, so there must have been a miscommunication somewhere else. After all, it's hardly a secret if it's posted here publicly on the Internet, and several people from school had already read it. Which is why it was specifically requested.
However, it is obvious that I need to take lessons in sarcasm either from my son or my sister.
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