it's official

Well it has officially happened. I have been labeled and marked a high maintenance parent. We all knew this time was coming. I mean, who could not see it with all my control issues, my knowledge and career in the schools and all the countless other anomalies that make me one of "them". I thought I was doing well with Drake's education route till I hit that first bump in the road in pre-school. His teacher tried to take on too many kids and was not teaching my kid everyday. She had the kids on a rotating learning schedule. I informed her I was not paying for a rotating learning schedule. I wanted my kid to be learning everyday - what a concept! So I pulled him and placed him into another pre-school. I loved, loved, LOVED this pre-school. So much so I placed Grady there. Drake thrived and wowed them with his keen wisdom and quirky smile. Then came kindergarten. Our district allows you to have a voice (or basically choose) your child's teacher. Oh, I am SO all over that. I grabbed my paperwork, did some snooping and requested his teacher. She challenged him and provided extra enrichment activities, Drake loved her and I was pleased. I followed this same path for first grade with the same outcome. You could even say I had a teacher crush. She wooed me, made me cry at every conferences and stroked my mommy ego with such a tender touch...sigh. I miss her so. She told me she would place Drake and I would not have to worry. We both had the same teacher in mind anyway, I didn't need to fill out the form. She convinced me to loosen the reins of control, to allow someone else to play with his destiny. So I submitted to her smile. Then it happened. The teacher we had "planned" got knocked up. The nerve! Hello?! Couldn't you wait till after you educated my son? So into the masses he was tossed to be distributed to a teacher I had no input on. Why was I not notified? Why wasn't I consulted? So that leads us to the here and now. His teacher this year has had me on edge for months. If it wasn't such a small school I would have had him pulled and placed in another room. I have had phone calls with the principal about his teacher's lack of teaching, her inability to differentiate and the fact that he comes home almost everyday telling me he is bored. This led to some biting backlash emails from his teacher and the super syrupy yet "I want to rip your eyes out" interactions during their class fieldtrip a few weeks ago. Then there was today. Drake had his spring conference today. A conference he was to lead. John and I went together with no intentions of confrontation and planned to enjoy Drake's time in the spotlight. But when we arrived we were quickly greeted by the teacher and the principal. Great! I know all about this. I have been on the other side of this table and made under-my-breath comments about over zealous parents and their crazy expectations and demands. I have now been labeled one of "them". It is a heart breaking day to know that I now have a high maintenance mom star on my child's school folder. Guess I can add that star to my never ending bad mommy star collection!