It's like speed-dating! (Not that I've ever been sped-dated. The concept hadn't even been invented last time I was dating, which was back in the late 1980s.)For the uninitiated, what happens is that your child books you a series of appointments with his or her teachers, each at five minute intervals. Then you turn up on the big night - with a somewhat reluctant child in tow - and attempt to find the teacher you need to talk to. Each room houses around four teachers, each one with a bank of several anxious families waiting to talk to them. No one runs on time. Or in order. And the rooms are located all over the place. So you rush around a bit lost, with your son saying, "Oh, it doesn't matter if we get to talk to the science teacher! Let's get out of here now!".
Hmmm. Easy for you to say Number One Son, but both your Science and your English teacher ticked the 'interview recommended' box on your report. There is no escape.
We emerged after an hour feeling pretty good actually. He's managing to keep up with his challenging workload, and we weren't surprised with the common theme from his teachers: "enthusiastic and capable, but gets distracted easily". And he's obviously settled into this new phase of life very well - every teacher commented on his social prowess. And his lack of dedication to the great homework quest.
He is still only 12 however. Twelve going on 15 sometimes, but essentially he's still a kid. A kid settling very well into a big new institution with 1,199 other kids of various sizes and dispositions. (I wish I'd have had his self-confidence and positive outlook at the same age.)
Being there last night made me feel that I was back in highschool myself. I know that some of the teachers had their game faces on, but I did feel sometimes that my parental aptitude was what was being evaluated.
Hopefully we got a tick as suitably concerned and interested parents, even if our timekeeping was shot.
PS This is my 100th post!
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