Crime and Punishment

I had to share this before it got lost in the holiday shuffle.
The MP has had a couple of incidents at school where a note has been sent home when he misbehaves. I have no idea what the average is on such things but he has had maybe two in his year and almost a half of public school.

One came home this year after he acted up when they had a substitute and I let loose with the punishment and the tirade about how we are supposed to behave no matter who is in charge.

So last night we are in the car (the three of us which is a rarity on a week night but we had all made it home around the same time) and he asks from the backseat
“What happens if there is a note in my folder?”

Well, the last time he got in trouble at school I told him he would be on punishment for a week and it would be even worse the next time. Strongly suggesting there not BE a next time.

And this is two weeks before Christmas when you should be on your best behavior of the entire year: Not having notes sent home from school.

So I ask what the note says and he starts crying. I am trying to drive so I tell Scott to get the (insert favorite swear word here) note out of his backpack.

In between heaving sobs the MP lays out his crime:

“I thought (sob) the teacher (sob) had left the classroom. And I jumped off a TAAAAABBBBBLLLLLE!!!! SOB SOB, SNIFFLE, SNIFFLE, WHINE WHINE

Scott finishes looking through the bag at this point and there is no note. Well isn’t this an interesting kerfuffle. What am I to do about a crime with no charge?

Scott is no help at this point as he is cracking up in the passenger seat looking out the window so as not to make eye contact with me.

First things first, I try and discern WHY he jumped off the table and WHY he climbed up on it in the first place. Like any good criminal who knows their goose is cooked, he gives the best defense: “I don’t know”. We walk through a couple of options and he decides it was because it would be funny but that he is very sorry.

I remind him of what happens when he jumps off things

(please see http://loveymudpuddle.blogspot.com/2008/05/i-believe-i-can-fly.html

for last jumping off things we shouldn’t story)

and how I really don’t appreciate him trying to ruin his face. He needs to keep his feet on the ground (“and keep reaching for the stars!!” I know, I need to stop using the American Top 40 cornball stuff but I still find it funny).

He says “Oh yeah!” like he forgot. Right, because he is told not to do so many things.

I then explain that we do not act up just because the teacher is out of the room. He should behave the same way as when she is in the room.

I hear Scott roll his eyes on that one.

So now we need to decide what his punishment should be. As well as deciding what his punishment would have been if there had been a note but no confession. You should get good behavior points for confessing, right?

First he lets us know he has already been punished at school which sets him off crying again and Scott off giggling:
“I had to put my head (sob) on my desk (sniff) DURING STORY TIIIIMMMMEEE.”

Oh the horror.

I explain that first off he needs to write a note apologizing to his teacher for his behavior and Scott and I will discuss the remainder of his punishment.

This morning we outlined the rest of his sentence: No tv today or tomorrow and only two hours on Saturday and Sunday and he has to go to bed ½ an hour early tonight as he did last night.
I was going to add all weekend but Scott reminded me that would mean he would be up a ½ an hour earlier on the weekend and no matter how many times I tell him to just watch tv and lay out his breakfast the night before he invariably wakes me up at the butt crack of dawn to “show me something” or to open his yogurt.

Seriously.
Oh, and a side track he once asked me after I explained he was on his own between 6 and 8 on the weekends:
“What if I need to get something out of the car?”
Like what exactly? A reusable shopping bag? The trash you can’t remove from the car when I ask you to? I don’t know where he gets this stuff.

I also explain to him that if there had been a note and no confession I would have made the punishment all week (til next Wednesday) and would have emailed Santa letting him know he might want to reconsider the gift selection. His eyes were the size of saucers when I told him this – Santa is a great threat this time of year.

So he had HIS note to his teacher with his apology this morning and I will be curious to see if she sends a note outlining what happened. She will probably think that we are psychic (or crazy) and she has underestimated the MP’s grasp of writing and spelling since I stood over him and dictated the note.
Either way, he has locked in his punishment and note or not he knows where he stands.