That hardly sounds like MY child

You have no idea how many times I heard that phrase when I was teaching.

Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben….I’ve always said Ben is my child who has no guile.  Well, that belief ended this week when I received a phone call from his teacher.  The conversation that took place went something like this:

Mrs. Goetz:  Is this Ben’s mother, Mrs. Belt?

Me:  Yes.
Mrs. Goetz:  Oh, good.  I needed to get in touch with you about your son Ben.  Something very bad has happened.
Me:  Oh, no.
Mrs. Goetz:  First of all I would like to reassure you that Ben is healthy and fine.  He is not injured or sick at all.
Me:  Oh. (I know, I'm quite the conversationalist.)
Mrs. Goetz:  On Friday Ben was sent to Australia for not paying attention in reading.

Let’s stop here for a moment to do some explaining, shall we?  In Ben’s class, Mrs. Goetz sends her children to Australia (a little map of Australia in the corner of the room) for a time out.  They get a warning the first time and the second time it happens, they get a time out.  At this point of the punishment the person in time out has to write a note to their parents stating that they got a time out, discussing why the time out was given and they have to bring this note home for their parent to sign.  Back to Mrs. Goetz…

Mrs. Goetz:  On Friday Ben was sent to Australia for not paying attention in reading and the note he brought back to me had his father’s signature on it.

Me:  That’s funny Brad never told me he got the note.
Mrs. Goetz:  Well, I have a pretty good hunch that it is not his father’s signature.  Ben forged his father’s signature. 

Let's pause again for a moment.  He FORGED his father's signature.  Ben is in 2^nd grade, this is a really bad sign for me!!!!

Me:  Oh my.  Ben will definitely get a talking to about that.  Thank you for calling me.
Mrs. Goetz:  I’m sure he will.  I’m glad I got a hold of you.  But this is not all I need to notify you of.
Me:  Oh.
Mrs. Goetz:  Today when Ben went to use the bathroom he was found climbing the stalls and hanging upside down from them.
Me:  Oh. *sigh*  That DEFINITELY sounds like my child, Ben.  I will talk with him about that also.
Mrs. Goetz:  Thank you.

When Ben got home we had a little talking about forging signatures and how serious of a crime that is.   We spoke of how someone recently forged Dad's signature to get some drugs and how that man is now on trial for a felony and will spend some time in jail.  We spoke of how he probably didn't know how bad it was to forge someone's signature, but he did know how bad it was to deceive and lie and that is what he did.  We spoke about trust and how his actions made him lose my trust and Mrs. Goetz's trust.  He had to write a letter of apology to his father and to Mrs. Goetz.  And last, but not least, he has been banished to his room for 4 days without any food or water.  Okay, water but no food ;).  Out the window goes my boy without guile. *sigh*