Lesson Not Learned

Monday was my husband's 32nd birthday.

Of course, Butterfly had to give him a very special gift to celebrate.

The principal's phone call came around 3:00 pm, letting me know that Butterfly called the playground supervisor a b***h, and would be suspended the next day. I do not believe the punishment fit the crime, but I listened and apologized for the behavior, and decided it was not the appropriate time to point out that I disagreed with the punishment since it had already been handed down to B.

When I picked B up that evening, we didn't really talk, as I didn't know what to say. I did tell her that there would be nothing fun or comfortable about her suspension.

So, the next morning, she woke up and got ready like any other day. I asked her to put on socks and shoes, and she  reminded me she wasn't actually going to school today. I reminded her that there would be nothing fun or comfortable about being suspended. So, by 7:15, a full hour before school even starts, Butterfly was at the kitchen table doing math worksheets.

She worked diligently all morning. I marked any incorrect answers and she sat back down and corrected them.

She tried to talk about random things, and I reminded her we were not there to socialize.

When the four Math worksheets were completed, she did three Grammar worksheets. A quick five minute bathroom/snack break followed. Next she wrote spelling words several times each.

All homework was completed by 10:30 am. Awesome! What to do the rest of the day? So she cleaned her room, and I do mean cleaned her room.

She had ten minutes for lunch and fifteen minutes for recess. When she asked to play with chalk, I told her she didn't have chalk to play with at school, so she couldn't use it here. She played with sticks and acorns.

She read for one hour and did several loads of her laundry. She practiced math facts. She read for another hour. She did a spelling worksheet because I didn't know what else to have her do.

So, lesson learned, right? Being suspended from school is not fun.

Well, no, actually. My daughter thought it was fantastic. Granted she didn't do one fun thing all day, but she still thought it was great. Why?

"Mom, you are so much stricter than my teacher."

"Mom, really you are a lot stricter, you would be a really good substitute teacher."

"Mom, I like how quiet it is here, I can actually focus on my work."

"Mom, there aren't any kids distracting me here."

I wish I was shocked that this suspension was a massive fail, but I knew as soon as the principal suspended her that it would really only be a waste of my time, as I lost a day of work. I called him around 9:30am that day to discuss alternate punishments for future problems. I am still waiting for that call to be returned.

And to drive home the point that getting suspended is not okay, especially since she enjoyed it so much, she owes me a whole day. Which I am taking advantage of today since she is off school for Veteran's Day. She has a whole list of chores to complete from sweeping to cleaning the backyard to coloring a picture for Grandma.

I wonder what the school will pull out for her next infringement, since they already brought out the big guns and it is only early November?