Or rather…why I shouldn’t be too hard on SN3, who is exactly the same age now as I was when I received this report card. “Orly Field American” was the name of the school I attended. The school was located, strangely enough, here. I'm thinking Orly Field might have changed somewhat since I went to school there. Maybe.
Looking at this report card I thank the Lord the year was 1956 and not 2006. Can you say “Ritalin?” I thought you could. While Ritalin wasn’t a part of my life at that time, I sure spent a lot of time in my room on “restriction.” You can only imagine the terror I felt bringing a report card like this home. It wasn’t the grades, Gentle Reader…they were almost good enough. Nope…it was my teacher’s comments that caused all sorts Hell to break out in my house.
As ever, click the pics for the larger legible versions.
There should be no comparison between you and SN3. Different generations, different schools, different teachers, different levels of acceptance, different expectations, etc. Grades tend to be inflated these days, although,
ReplyDeleteSN3 is doing great.
Ritalin is overused. You were just a normal boy, as is SN3.
ReplyDeleteI loved the comments from the teacher. The first time your mother said, "Bucky will improve". Then with later reports that you were still "not applying yourself enough" (that's what my teachers always liked to say! LOL) your mother only signed her name. I wonder if she was exasperated with being bothered with all these reports.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Bucky (sorry couldn't resist.)
Lou: You sound like TSMP, LOL! She goes absolutely ballistic whenever I compare SN3 to anyone... live or dead, real or fictional. That must be a no-no in this day and age. Still..."the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree." And that's sorta scary in some respects.
ReplyDeleteA brief war story. One night TSMP and I were lying in bed and it was towards the end of her pregnancy. I was just drifting off into sleep when TSMP grabbed my arm and squeezed it, hard. I thought something was wrong, so I snapped back quickly and said the obvious: "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she said. "I just had the most horrible thought... what if this child gets the worst of both of us?" And then she laughed...
Fast forward about ten years... that moment comes up between us every so often. She thinks it has come to pass...i.e., SN3 has inherited the worst of us, and that's the problem. (More so ME than HER, of course...) ;-)
Jenny: I was selling my parents short with that comment, which was made half in jest. But you are SO correct. It's a seemingly rare thing these days...boys being "allowed" to be boys.
Sharon: That was a pretty strained year, marked by lotsa parent-teacher conferences. My Mom certainly was exasperated...with ME.
Just to add, that age 10 is a HARD age! Well, for me it is, having a 10 year old daughter. I don't know about with boys (yet), but man, for poor Shelby it is a tough age. Kids at school can be so mean (girls AND boys), plus the horomones changing, the classes are getting harder (we are doing science fair right now. And I think before the end of the year she has to do a Powerpoint presentation). We have dropped from A Honor Roll to A-B Honor Roll. Given, back in the ice age when YOU were 10, you didn't have PowerPoint, but most of the rest stands true.
ReplyDeleteGiven, back in the ice age when YOU were 10, you didn't have PowerPoint, but most of the rest stands true.
ReplyDeleteYeah, we mostly painted on the cave walls. With charcoal. ;-)
You scare me, Jenny. PowerPoint is a (the?) curse of modern-day civilization, and to think we're indoctrinating our VERY young in its use scares the BeJesus out of me.
As for the rest of your points: noted and agreed. There's a significant "back story" where SN3 and I are concerned but it ain't blog-fodder. Your larger point about ten being a tough age is SO very true.
BTW...Chap (see my sidebar: Chapomatic) linked to a great article on the subject of Boys and Ritalin. A good read, it is.
ReplyDeleteWhen my friend Ms. Bear's son was in kindergarten in Red River, there was the case of "pee on the bathroom floor" of the boys room. The three teacher, none of which had ever mothered a son, were aghast making a big to-do over it. Good grief! They were little boys! Of course there was pee on the floor!
ReplyDelete