The Rules - changing once again

Elcie woke up trying to figure out why she wasn't in her sleep clothes. Got her bathed, dressed and out door with much griping. She doesn't understand why a striped shirt with print jeans might not be the thing. Personally, I don't care if they're perfectly coordinated so off she went. Her jeans are a subdued print and it wasn't bad once everything was on her body. I may be too conservative for the times.

Everything is now settled with the neighbors and we all know who the troublemaker was. We don't know why except to take attention away from her behavior by starting a brawl. It won't work a second time. She's a 14 year old with too much time on her hands and on her way to serious trouble if she doesn't turn it around. We'd discouraged the girls from spending much time with her - I'm not especially judgmental but it's easy for children to choose the wrong mentors and I think she was trying to develop a following. I had already talked to her about what she says around them - I can handle sex education myself, thanks. I now have to tell her she can't be around them.

The rules have changed for homework. Rebecca will come straight in from school and sit, with or without homework, for the time it would normally take her to complete her work. It will be less boring for her with homework. It's easy with the other girls; they have an agenda which I can check off against the work. Rebecca's teacher considers homework to be the work they didn't finish in class. I like that approach but he's assuming that all children always tell the truth. If Rebecca says she finished all her classwork, how do I know whether it's true? She, who is capable of A+ work, is sitting at a C- with report cards coming out in two weeks. Meantime, I'll ask the teacher to let me know if she isn't performing. I know he considers homework to be the kids' responsbility but, on the other hand, the schools are constantly carrying on about parental involvement. Let's make up our minds, shall we?

Hi L. - Reassuring to know I'm not all alone in this and I don't have the world's only fibber. It's not only an epidemic, but one of long standing I'm afraid. My older son used to leave his completed work in the gutter on his way home so I wouldn't see how little he had accomplished in class. He was disciplined twice - once for dishonesty and once for littering. Or as Rochelle would say, "hurting Mother Earth". Nobody ratted him out - his conscience got to him. It still does about many things.

4 a.m etc. - thanks - your comments were lovely.

Gawdnessness - I usually manage to restrain myself to "put a sock in it" but it's a close call at times. If I feel myself reaching that point, I usually walk away before she hears comments totally inappropriate to my age and station in life. Elcie can do it to me faster than anybody. She gets upset if I don't have answers immediately and then keeps talking while I'm trying to figure it all out. I need to get her 7th grade math book. I've had all the others, courtesy of the school. She brings home single sheets with not much explanation and much of the time she doesn't understand what was covered in class. Procedures change even from one publisher to another, or at least the focus does.

My new goal - develop a "blog glossary". I got thrown by the word "meme" which everyone in blogland seemed to know except me. Finally figured out IMHO and SAHM. I already knew brb, lol, and lmao (from my kids) so I was a little ahead but not much.

Later - thanks to everyone for the encouragement and kind words.