I'm trying to stay positive and 'everything will be fine' again tonight.
I was messaging Small Man back and forth from camp (his first night).
None of his teachers are there at the moment.
It was meant to be tea time - and he was sitting in his room.
He was told that the kitchen is too busy for him to be in there.
So everyone else was eating while he sat in his room.
He has taken his own food which I was assured was o.k.
I mean all the child needed was a plate and a knife.
After more messages and I could tell he was getting upset...
I rang him.
I eventually got the teacher I spoke with the other day on the phone.
Small Man 'didn't want to make a big deal of it' and was going to just sit in his room - no-one noticed he wasn't there for tea!!!!
This teacher assured me the other day (after first telling me no-one was to take their own food, then me telling him that would be a problem because SM has an eating disorder and wouldn't be able to attend if that was the case) that this would be fine.
I explained to him that Small Man needed to go into the kitchen briefly to make his tea, and that he was already feeling self conscious about eating different food to the others, and that this was creating anxiety.
He said it would be fine, and escorted SM to the kitchen while I was on the phone.
They must have staff there because when he told them one of the women said "Ahh rr-ight" - so they obviously didn't know.
The teacher was quite brusque and sounded a bit hurried on the phone - maybe a lot going on at the time I don't know - but still.......
I thought the whole thing was better set up than this, that is what they led me to believe.
I spoke to SM again then hung up.
But now I feel terrible.
Issues around food are one of his main problems - something like this could set him back.
I really hope his own teachers will be there tomorrow night and he will feel better.
I have asked him to msg me if he needs me to ring back.
I'm not totally OTT but I won't leave him somewhere if it's going to damage the shreds of self esteem he has left.
At the same time if he's o.k. I'll leave him to enjoy himself.
For another child this wouldn't be a big deal at all - but when you have a child that's different......
and the school is supposed to be set up for this type of thing - the kids are there for many reasons similar to this......
I told the teacher very directly that this will need to be better organised tomorrow night.
And I'm usually not direct.
At all.
*sigh*
G
xxx
**Added at 7.45pm** Big A just came home - he told me if Small Man isn't happy there he can come home.....I feel relieved now.
p.s. It's our wedding anniversary today 13 years! We have been together for 19 years though :)
13 comments:
Bugger!
Hopefully tomorrow will be better for him.
xxx
oh gina- how i HATE camps- i cried for days when mine were away....poor you, poor SM..............
Hi Vicki here X:-)
Just wanted to say that i can relate totally to the camp situation having one daughter who has severe food allergies- Anaphylaxis (and for a time Anorexia) and we came to the conclusion that teachers just need to feel in control, full stop, end of story, so you need to get to get to know them personally so you can learn how to handle them without disturbing their poor delicate feelings (!!!) ... So what we used to do was make a private visit to the camp, prior to the camp, taking our daughter with us, so we could get to know those running it and the kitchen staff, and so they could eyeball her too... Made her camps so much easier... but i still worry (and she's 16yrs now) and there have been times when we have had people brick wall us, so there were times when she also didn't go to camp at all... Fortunately that has only happened twice... Hope all goes well for SM, because i know how important these type of experiences are for those kids struggling with self esteem issues x
Michelle ~ Thank you ~ me too. He tends to bounce back pretty well, I'm just worried that this might cause him anxiety (jeez, he has enough of that!)
Lisa ~ The last one went so well I trusted that this one would too....
Vicki ~ Hi there :) It's hard isn't it. Especially as this is distance education, and half of the kids are in it because they have problems similar to, or very different to SM - but each requiring special care.
I wouldn't have thought this would have been such a 'biggie' - not only did I tell the teacher on the phone, I also wrote very specifically in the notes - the box was labelled 'special care'. I think the problem was none of his familiar teachers were there at tea time (and there are four that know SM well).
The camp kitchen works under instruction from the teachers, and I assumed they would actually instruct - not quite.
He has been through so much in the last three years I couldn't handle any further set backs for him. Thank you for your comment :)
G
xxx
Congratulations on the occasion of the big ONE THREE. I enjoy your posts.
Snowbrush ~ Thank you, and thank you - although I seem to be writing OTT neurotic mother posts at the moment :)
G
xx
Happy anniversary!
Sometime you need to be very direct to get your point across because SM doesn't deserve to be swept under the carpet to help some teacher feel relaxed when he/she is supposed to be doing their job.
Jayne ~ Thank you :)
I am hoping one of his more familiar teachers will be there today - it will help him feel at ease.
G
xx
CONGRADULATIONS on the anniversary. yippee!! hey did you think back then you'd have a great husband, two sons and loads of crazy inlaws???
i hope small man makes out ok. damn camp people, if they didn't want to put any effort into making the kids feel comfortable then why did they take these jobs?
ass wipes.
Warriorwitch ~ Thank You :) Funnily enough I knew when I met him we'd be together - that I'd marry him.
No-one believed me.....that'll teach them!
He seems to have had a better day today from what I can gather, I just hope tea time tonight isn't another ordeal.
I have a can of whoop-ass here just ready to open up if it is.... ;)
G
xx
Boo goes on his first camp in 4 weeks.
I am scared shitless.
And we have the food issues too.
I hope things are getting better and he ends up having a wonderful time.
Happy Anniversary!
Kelley ~ Hey you :) Thank you. Hmm...where is the camp, is it close to home?
How long is he going for?
I went into this one with some false confidence since the last one went so well - silly woman - I won't do that again.
Write lists for the teachers, and more lists, and then some more....cover Boo with 'post it's' even :)
G
xxx
Happy Anniversary, Gina. SM will be fine. I'm willing to bet he's tougher than you think.
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