Do You Think I'm Intimidating?

This was written last year, but it still makes me smile. So I thought I'd share.

Monday started out okay. It was the first day of parent teacher conferences, and the 3 parents scheduled did not show up. I really wasn't surprised. Tuesday I had a conference with "The Angry Parent #2." (The title Angry Parent #1 was already taken at the beginning of the year.) So she comes in and commences to chewing me out. AP#2 tells me that her son was sent down straight from Heaven, he never does anything wrong, and he thinks I am intimidating. I've been called lots of things (ex. strict and rigid), but not the I-word. She informed me that the kid had begged her several times to be moved to another class. She also mentioned that even though you're not supposed to have favorites between your kids, he was her favorite. It must be because he was sent from Heaven. (I can only imagine where the others came from.) Anyway, back to the story.

Then Angry began telling me what all I had supposedly done-dragged her son away during recess time and moved his desk to the "Stupid Kids Group" for no apparent reason. (Yes, those were her words, not mine!) Then it was my turn to talk. She didn't know that he had been poking another student with his pencil, been told twice to stop, and still continued doing it. During class, not at recess time, his desk was moved to the "Kids-who-can't-always-keep-their-hands-and-feet-to-themselves Group" for obvious reasons. Well, AP didn't know all of those facts.

So she did what any disbelieving mother would do- she changed the subject. I had made her precious angel learn about Martin Luther King and write an "I have a dream" speech. She knew that this was an important event a long time ago, but didn't understand why we were still studying it! At this point I think she realized I am Not White. She began to backpedal. I sat and listened while she dug the hole deeper and deeper. Finally, she had absolutely nothing left to say. "You've taken this quite well," she told me at the end of our conference.

The next day, AP#2 arrived to school early. She had a tray filled with cupcakes. "I felt so bad about yesterday, I brought you these cupcakes," she stated without making eye contact. A peace offering of chocolate and pure sugar. Maybe I am intimidating after all!