The quiet after the storm

Having survived the toilets of Osgoode yesterday, I decided I needed a quieter day and consequently had one. I am helped in this as Ottawacker Jr. has hurt himself. I am sort of hoping it was at goalkeeping practice last night. It is in his chest, towards the right side, and it hurts when he coughs or laughs. He can’t remember any sort of contact while playing football, so I am not sure it isn’t a chest infection, But there is no fever, no coughing to speak of, no other symptoms at all. I suppose we will just have to wait and see. School starts on Tuesday, so it may be a psychosomatic response to that.
 
I took him for a hair cut at noon. Odalia often comes to the house for Ottawacker Jr. but couldn’t this week, so in we went to the salon. She was running late, so he and I sat and chatted for half an hour, mainly about school and what was happening next year. He is growing up so quickly. He had one hope for his class placement, which might not come till Tuesday, and that is not to get Miss D. “She is a witch,” he said, or words to that effect. “She hates boys.” She is also the primary francophone teacher in the grade, so that might be part of the issue too – but I had heard about her from other sources and can possibly agree with the Ottawacker Jr. analysis. Having been a teacher myself for a while though, I can confirm that those who are seen as “witches” or “really strict” are often the best teachers. Either way, we can buckle up for the ride. The blip is of him modelling the new cut. It is, incidentally, the same as the old cut.
 
His pain didn’t deteriorate through the day, but his mood did. Late afternoon, an email gave him his class and home room for the year. He got the dreaded Miss D. On top of that, a quick phone call around the troops revealed that he is also not in the same class as any of his friends. One of his teachers last year said that this was a possibility as Ottawacker Jr. is seen as a “good influence” and gets on with everybody. Personally, I can’t see the rational behind it from a child’s perspective. He was in tears about it – and it doesn’t seem a very good way of keeping a child as a good influencer if he is punished for being so. And whether or not it is a punishment (of course it isn’t, it is the furthest thing from teachers minds’ when they do the class compositions), he sees it as a punishment, and it may stop him from doing what helps him be such a special kid. I’m a little pissed off by it too – it happened last year as well. A group of fun, bright, athletic, hardworking kids were all split up so they could be role models for other kids. While that is fine, I suppose, it is hard on kids to be consistently chopped and changed.
 
Once he had calmed down, and Mrs. Ottawacker had made their dinner, I had my soup and vegetables and we settled down to watch a movie together.  It all ended up well enough. Packed him to bed with Tylenol. We all slept well.