May 22, 2007

  • Perfect attendance and other crap.

    I have no more kids in high school.
     Last Friday was the senior awards ceremony, Matt won male Thespian of the year.  But the most exciting award was the perfect attendance award.  I was ashamed Matt didn't win that one.  I am a horrible mother, my kid got sick occasionally, and I kept him home those times.

    I know it's shocking, but it's true.  In fact, a couple times I gave him a personal mental health day.  I lied and called him in sick.  He is no longer in high school, so I can finally be honest.  Obviously, perfect attendance boy's mother wasn't a liar and I am assuming she knew how to keep her kid healthy.

     Or, she let him go to school sick, infecting the rest of the kids, knowing the other moms would keep their kids home ruining their chances for the award.

    Matt does know how to act though.  Lying to the school about your kid being sick, when in actuality your giving them a mental health day, is almost like acting, so I'm positive he got that skill from me.

    Some day Matt might make a lot of money for acting.  I wonder what perfect attendance boy will do with his skill?  Maybe he will work in an office and make all his coworkers sick.  I wonder if he'll have his award on his desk.

    I don't think Matt will have perfect attendance in college, in fact, I am 99.9 % sure he won't.

    In other news, if I could legally and morally kill people, it would be the people who work for Dell Computer.   Or maybe just the owner of the company.  For those of you who have been around awhile, yes, AGAIN.
    I'm not ready to talk about it.  I shake every time it comes into my mind : shaking:.

    Matt was hypnotized at the senior lock in.  I was going to go, but I got a migraine.  This is because I realized you really do marry your parents, and too much expunge and too much mom, in one room, is, well, too much. 

    Sorry mom.

    Sorry exspunge. ( ex - husband who still lives here for interested parties)

    Sorry head.

    I could never be hypnotized.  I can't even sleep in a bed, in the dark, much less a chair. 

    I can't meditate either. 

    When I try, I think about how annoying it is that I can't meditate.

    I never had perfect attendance.

    I ditched a lot.

    Now I blog.

    I missed more school days than blogging days.

    Is that bad?

Comments (45)

  • I don't even think an award should be given for perfect attendance.  Even leaving skipping out of it, most people are naturally going to be legitimately sick at least one time during high school, and it's not right to have an award for something one can't help.  And, like you said, some kids might go to school sick, so why do they deserve an award for infecting people?  Dumb award.

    Congratulations to Matt's EARNED award, Male Thespian!  :woohoo19:   Congratulations on his graduation, too!  :grad11:

    Kathi 

  • So what did the kid get for his perfect attendance?  A stupid piece of paper that someone quickly generated off a computer right before the ceremony?  That was worth all the fun he missed out on by going to school every day.

  • I totally agree.  None of my kids will ever get the perfect attendence award either.  And I would hate to be hypnotized too.  Congratulations to Matt on his award!

  • Congrats to Matt....and you...you're done with high school!  yeah! :) t

  • Dear Laura,

    I'm sure they had "perfect attendance" awards or some such when I was in school but I don't remember. I certainly didn't have perfect attendance. I would question anybody who did. Everyone gets sick at some time during a four year period.

    Congrats to Matt for the thespian award. (When I was in hiskool there was a certain stigma involved in being in the "lesbians", er, I mean, "thespians".)

    And you should be proud anyway for raising kids who excell rather than drop out during these trying modern times.

    Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool 

  • :snoopy23: Nah! You've got your priorities straight. :sillygrin28: Thank God that someone brightens Xanga up!

  • My son had perfect attendance from Kindergarten through 5th grade, but in 6th grade we decided SCREW IT. He got strep throat and felt horrible. It wasn't worth it. He is now in 8th grade and misses a healthy amount of school each year and none of his classmates are exposed to his illnesses.

    Congrats to Matt on winning his award. And congrats to you....no more high school! :greensmileys38:

  • Love Anorexic Barbie pic!:hmmm22::cupcake14::cupcake14:    WEll,  if the truth be known,  perfect attendance Mom,  probably had a hidden agenda,  like makin' it with the Mailman while the kid was in school,  so whether he was sick or not,  he HAD to go to school!??:omg24::hot21:

    Cassie said they had a hypnotist at their lock in too,  I wish I could of been there!  I guess someone recorded it on DVD,  if I get a chance,  and DSL,  and a brain to do it,  I will post it!

  • funny Laura!

  • RYC: It's okay. I'm glad you liked it.

  • I think I had perfect attendance once. Maybe. Otherwise I always got sick at some point. Or at least faked it. :elephant37:

    Hope you are well! Congrats to Matt for his award. :tigger34:

  • WOW...I'm glad I'm not "perfect attendance award's" mom.  Pretty harsh here.  My youngest had perfect attendance till 9th grade.  She never has missed a full day of school, just parts of days.  I was pretty proud of her and still am.  It had nothing to do with me and my decision.  Hell, it wasn't by my example either cause I miss work every chance I get! LOL

  • That anorexic barbie is hilarous.

    Perfect attendance was not one that I could ever fathom. When I was in Fort Worth we had a student with perfect attendance since Kindergarten, unbelievable. Son takes two mental health days a semester, if he misses more that that he will not be exempt from exams. Who know what he will do in college.

    Your kids have done very well and you should be very prould.

    Hope the migraine is better soon.

    Hugs, Tricia :greensmileys38:

  • Congrats to the Graduate! :grad11:

    Anorexic Barbie makes me laugh.  I never had perfect attendance either.  I don't think that it is worth it in high school.

    RYC:  She turns 3 tomorrow, so I was posting her birth story today and a birthday post tomorrow.  Her hole in her heart sealed up but developed into a condition called aortic stenosis which means her aortic valve is harder and thicker then normal.  They are monitoring it very closely but it doesn't seem to affect her day to day well-being.

  • Loved this post.  My kids don't get perfect attendance, either.  :hmmm22:  Now I feel better about that.  :hammock20:

  • Congrats to Matt! :snoopy23:  A thespian award is way cooler than an attendance award! :tigger34:

  • No more in high school. Got you beat.  My youngest daughtet moved out with her boyfriend about two or three weeks ago and m y eldest daughter moved out last week and now I have no more at home. It's great and I'm waiting for my blood pressure to plummet.

  • OMG! XANGA ATE MY COMMENT!! GRRRR!

    Okay, it was a long one, too...but I was saying that I don't think there is any glory in perfect attendance. I believe in mental health days and keeping my kids home from whatever activity when they are sick.

  • I can't meditate either.  My mind wanders too much and I'm afraid it'll get lost.

    I think I have a touch of ADD.  And a little dyslexia thrown in too.

  • my mom has given me many mental heath days...they are the best.

     i think the thespian award sounds much more exciting than the pefect attendance award.

  • Jeff & Naomi were consecrated Friday (remember the mini Torahs?).  Anyway, they gave an award for perfect attendance.... no, they didn't get an award.  They should have given me an award for getting them there on Tuesdays at 4:30 (really 5:00). 

    On another note-congratulations to Matt and to you too.  I can't believe they are all grown up - and absolutely amazing. 

  • and just to vent a little - what's up with my generic ambian that is a teeny tiny little pill that I can't cut in half?  WTF:angry13:

  • What the hell kind of artwork does that freak Barbie have on her wall???? A winged lizard??? What the hell????

    Perfect attendance, I always think exactly what you said... HOW??? Isn't the kid EVER sick??? Yes, they are, they still go and infect our kids, thus ruining OUR kids' chance of perfect attendance. Not fair at all... but,you have a lovely point, what good does it do him now??? Tonight at our high school graduation, the valedictorian had FOUR YEARS of perfect attendance..... woopee... The best my kid has done was 2.5 days absent... I thought THAT was quite the feat, but she didn't get anything for it. BAstards.

    Did you cry??? Have they actually graduated yet???? I'm going to be a crying, I know it... because tonight, I didn't even really love any of those kids and I was about to bawl....

    :snoopy23: ( Idunno, he's just cute)

  • Graduation Rocks. Congrats to you as well. It's a proud moment.

  • The kids of a friend of mine always get that Perfect Attendance Award....  I know for a Fact she Does send them to school sick, she just waits a couple of hours until their attendance is on record, then checks them out.  Of course by then every other kid in the class is infected, & going to miss school by that time!!!  They give scholarships for PA here, & she's aiming for that.  What's wrong with the kid working hard, getting good grades, & earning a scholarship the Smart Way I wonder....... :grad11:

  • perfect attendence is just for the school so they get their money..its so bad and makes kids sick.... mental health days = good in my book

  • So how's that empty nest syndrome working out for you?  Looking forward to it?  Carrying a few too many ex-husbands to suffer from that just yet?  I LOVE your analogy of us marrying our parents.  And it also made me want to gag. 

  • Way to go Matt!  Im sure family is very proud of you , but as you go off to explore in life remember to do the best you can and achieve the goals you have set for yourself.  Im for missing no school.

  • Perfect attendance is probably overrated.

  • I saw the comment by  lizbeth62 about the generic ambein!  TOO FUNNY.  I had to go buy a pill cutter for mine, but well worth the price!  Mine went from $25 down to $10.

  • Kudos to Matt! 

  • You crack me the hell up. I wish I lived closer, you would be a riot to hang out with, I'm sure of that. :tigger34:

  • LOL! You and I live in the same mind somehow!

    I actually don't feel guilty for letting my kids take a "mental health" day off once in awhile. I also need to remember to call it that! I don't understand parents who won't let their kids have a day off, don't they know it will cause the kids to ditch instead? And don't they (the parents) ever take a day off work? We all need a break sometimes.

    And I get pretty pissed off at the parents who send their sick kids to school and then infect mine with strep throat, green slime, ear infections...LICE! :angry13:
    I just don't think perfect attendance is something to be all that proud of! I think I'd be ashamed instead if my kid went to school and gave all the other kids some contagious disease!

  • I remember I skipped more than half of my year of English in grade 10, and then won the English award (98% baby!) at the end of the year.
    The teacher was literally livid.  Heh.

  • Perfect attendance is overrated! Congrats to your son (and you for no more kids in high school!)

  • i think you are a responsible mother - I think keeping a sick child at home is necessary to contain the spread.

    as a child, i didn't miss classes much unless i am really sick. in college, i never missed the classes .

  • Oh no!  We've already kept our kid home from school for being sick!  Now his future is ruined!

  • RYC....well too bad yu don't write becasue your blogs are definitely worthy!  You could be the next Erma Bombeck!

    Congrats on your sons graduation...both for him AND you!  Isn't it great when they finally make it out of the school system?!:snoopy23:

  • P.S. That always ticked me off...the perfect attendance award.....what kid is NEVER sick or needs a day off for something???  That means they are sending sick jr to school to make everyone else sick!  Grrrrrr.....and they reward this???  I hate public schools (& I'm a teacher!)...that's why I home school now.

    Congrats again on sons graduation!:grad11:

  • I have to say congrats to your son!!!  :grad11:

    My son had his awards presentation thing today. And I have say that I hate the school he goes to! The kid that has bullied him all year long (not just saying that but I have personally seen it) got all kinds of awards - basically because his mom is on the PTO!  Talk about BS!!! :angry13:

    And had his teacher actually done spelling like a normal 5th grade teacher (you know with spelling words) and not graded on EVERYTHING that he wrote he would have made the all A honor roll. (he got C's in his spelling this last semester) All of his other grades were A's!  I just don't think it was right!  And it pretty much because he does not like to actually physically write so he would not go back and check his spelling.  On his reading jounal we would check his spelling and make sure it was right but we couldn't do that the rest of the time. So...needless to say I am totally freaking glad that this school year is over for him!!!

    And as for my daughter she had a thing in her history class and these kids were basically saying that if you were not Christian then you were an athist!  That totally PISSED me off!!!  And the teacher didn't stop it!  Hello...I just couldn't beleive what she was telling me so I went and called her teacher and sure enough he confirmed it!  I swear...I don't know what in the hell is wrong with some people!!!

    Oh well...I will get off my soap box.

    Hope you have a great week!!!

  • I just stopped in to say hi and ending up sitting here lmao.  Your post was just what I needed tonight.  Thank you so much from another mother of children who will never get that blessed award because we have what are known as "Mommy Days" (my kids are younger!).  Celebration days just because they're doing fantastic in school, because I love those special times, and because I'm the mommy and I can!  Thanks

  • RYC: I live up in CO Springs and I swear...it is so many conservatives here it isn't even funny!!!  Of course this is where we have the preacher he preached against homosexuals and then it turns out he had sex with a man! :omg24:  PLEASE!!!  And I thought AR was backwards!!! :question29:

    Oh believe me...I just wanted to slap the teacher for allowing that to be said. I am sorry...I have several friends who are not christian - I have several jewish friends, an athiest friend and a couple of Muslim friends!  The teacher is just about stupid!!! Only a few more years and we can move again!

    Thanks for the prayers for my mom too!  I really do appreciate it!!

  • I thought I had commented yesterday but I don't see my comment so here it is again. You crack me the hell up and I wish you lived closer because I think you'd be a riot to hang out with. :tigger34:

  • Congratulations to Matt on his Thespian award!  That's awesome.  So much more worthwhile than a perfect attendance award.

    Perfect attendance...pssshh...who cares!!  I'm like you, I gave my daughter "mental health" days, too.  Some days she missed just so she could get caught up on homework from her college classes. Plus any kid that makes it through their senior year with perfect attendance must be a dork or something.   Hillary missed more her senior year than she did all her years of school combined I think.  Thank goodness my best friend is the attendance secretary!  haha  We had a lot of "doctor appointments out of town."  She still graduated in the top 10% of her class with a 3.9 gpa, so I guess it didn't hurt much.

  • My kid has perfect attendance for four years except for a day and a half when my husband took him to a basketball tournament. I don't send him to school sick, but I don't see the point of mental health days. They get half days every Wednesday and a long summer break and two weeks in winter and a week at Thanksgiving and "ski week" and spring break...He can get his mental health in order on those days. It's funny to see the anti Perfect Attendance people pipe up. I had no idea people were so resentful.

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