{"id":7172,"date":"2021-09-03T11:04:59","date_gmt":"2021-09-03T18:04:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/?p=7172"},"modified":"2021-09-15T13:35:01","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T20:35:01","slug":"clubius-incarnate-part-24-nursery-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/2021\/09\/03\/clubius-incarnate-part-24-nursery-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Clubius Incarnate Part 24 – Nursery School"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was in the backyard of this house I had never seen before when mom left me here this morning, now sitting at this long table with a bunch of other boys. Some were my age and some were a little younger. The girls were sitting at another long table next to ours, not because they had to, but that\u2019s just where they wanted to sit I guess. The grownup women in charge had given us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cut up pieces of apple, and milk in these small boxes for lunch for lunch. Those grownups said they were \u201cteachers\u201d, whatever those were, but they said things and did things like they were moms.<\/p>\n

Mom said it was a \u201cnursery school\u201d, and before we got here this morning, I figured it would be some big building like that giant \u201cschool\u201d down at the other end of our street from the park. Or like that \u201ccollege\u201d place where dad went which he also called a \u201cschool\u201d. But instead it was just a regular house with a big sign in the front yard that I think had that \u201cschool\u201d word on it.<\/p>\n

I still wasn\u2019t sure why I was here. I knew older kids like Danny and Ricky went to school, and my babysitter Margie went to that giant school down at the end of our street. When I asked Danny why he went to school, he said they taught you how to read, and how to write letters and words, and how to do numbers. Molly told me that Ricky said that if you didn\u2019t go to school the special \u201cschool police\u201d would come and put you in jail. And even though Ricky seemed to know everything, some of those things he \u201cknew\u201d, were wrong.<\/p>\n

Mom hadn\u2019t said anything about me HAVING to go. She said it would \u201cgive me a chance\u201d to play with other kids and make new friends and it would get me \u201cready to go to regular school next year\u201d. But I already had my friends, like Molly, Danny, Paul and Kenny. And I could already meet new friends in the park, like James. And this place wasn\u2019t really big like the park. It was just a house and a backyard.<\/p>\n

The house was different than our house. More like Molly\u2019s because it had a top part that you had to go up the stairs to get to, but kids weren\u2019t supposed to go up there. It had a kitchen, but you couldn\u2019t go in there either. None of the rooms had beds. Some had tables and chairs where you could draw or paint or make things. And a couple rooms had just one of those \u201crug\u201d things on the floor, like dad\u2019s office in the basement or Molly\u2019s house, where you could play with toys on the floor. They did have lots of toys. And the backyard had swings and a slide and this pretend fort around the big tree that was pretty neat. It also had this giant sidewalk that you could ride tricycles on. But the backyard also had a fence around it so you couldn\u2019t go very far.<\/p>\n

So inside the house or in the backyard, the grownup \u201cteachers\u201d were in charge, and it was hard to go anywhere where they weren\u2019t watching you, listening to what you were saying, or even talking to you about what you were doing. In the basement at my house, I was often down there playing all by myself, or with Molly or one of my other friends. If dad was down there too, he was working in his office part of the basement. Or if mom was there she was washing clothes in the laundry part or doing chores and watching TV in the TV part of the basement. When I played in the backyard, sometimes mom would be working in the garden in the very back part of the yard, but usually I was there by myself or just with a friend. Mom or dad didn\u2019t keep asking me what I was doing.<\/p>\n

And in the park, either mom or dad would be sitting at a picnic table in the trees or mom would be lying on a blanket, where they could kind of see me but I was far away. In the park us kids were in charge, except maybe when those grownup \u201ccoaches\u201d were in charge of a regular baseball game or giving kids balls to play with. The older kids would help you, or answer your questions, or tell you what you could and couldn\u2019t do. Here there were no older kids to help you, only the grownups.<\/p>\n

The kid sitting across from me was doing most of the talking. His name was Bobby.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like peanut butter and jelly\u201d, he said, while he kept chewing his sandwich.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen don\u2019t eat it\u201d, some other kid said.<\/p>\n

Bobby shook his head. \u201cThen I\u2019ll starve. That girl over there got a sandwich with just peanut butter. It\u2019s not fair!\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the grownups walked over behind Bobby. \u201cBobby\u201d, she said, looking down at him, \u201cThe next time we do peanut butter and jelly for lunch I\u2019ll make you a sandwich with just peanut butter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bobby nodded. The grownup walked away to say something to a kid at the other end of our table.<\/p>\n

Bobby looked at me and made a face that didn\u2019t look like he was happy. Then he looked at the boy sitting next to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho\u2019s this new kid\u201d, he asked. I guessed he was asking about me.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe teacher said his name was \u2018Cooper\u2019\u201d, answered some other boy sitting on the other side of the boy who was sitting next to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not a regular name\u201d, Bobby said to that other boy, then he glanced again at me.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my nickname\u201d, I said to Bobby while he was still looking at me.<\/p>\n

Bobby frowned. \u201cThen what\u2019s your real name?\u201d he asked as he turned his head and looked me in the eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Jonathan\u201d, I said, answering his question, \u201cBut no one calls me that.\u201d<\/p>\n

A boy on the other side of me said, \u201cMy real name is William, but they call me Billy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bobby stared at that boy for a minute, nodding. I could tell he was trying to figure something out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw you at the park\u201d, he said. I nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cWere you playing in the bushes with that girl?\u201d<\/p>\n

I froze. My eyes stayed looking at Bobby, but I felt the other boys around me looking at me. It wasn\u2019t fair. Yeah I did play with Molly in the park in the bushes, or with other older girls sometimes playing \u201cdetective\u201d, but I played a lot with boys in the park too. I had to say something or they might all think I had cooties. I was kind of scared of kids I didn\u2019t know yet, especially boys. So I decided to pretend that I wasn\u2019t playing with Molly.<\/p>\n

\u201cNah\u201d, I said, \u201cShe was just some strange girl that tries to play with boys.\u201d I thought about what Molly would think if she heard me say that. She would be really mad.<\/p>\n

Bobby shook his head and made a face like he had tasted something bad.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate girls like that\u201d, he said, giving a worried look at the tables where the girls were sitting and where the teacher was now. I nodded, still pretending that what I had just said was true.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should fight a war with the girls here\u201d, he said, \u201cA SECRET war so the girls and the teachers can\u2019t figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

A couple of the boys around me said \u201cyeah\u201d, others nodded. Bobby looked at me again because I wasn\u2019t saying anything, or even nodding anymore. I was just thinking that I didn\u2019t want to be here, and hoping we were going to talk about something else other than girls and war.<\/p>\n

The teacher who was in charge of lunch and had been talking to the girls at the other tables started to walk back over to our table.<\/p>\n

\u201cSHHH\u201d, hissed Bobby, \u201cTeacher coming\u2026 SECRET.\u201d All the other boys got quiet and everybody, even Bobby, continued eating their sandwiches.<\/p>\n

\u201cBobby\u201d, the teacher said, coming up behind him and looking down at him with his mouthful and chewing, \u201cWe made you a sandwich with just peanut butter\u201d. She was carrying a paper plate with a sandwich on it.<\/p>\n

He looked at her with his mouth full of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou said you didn\u2019t like the jelly\u201d, the teacher said.<\/p>\n

Not saying anything with his mouth still full, he turned his body and looked at her and opened his eyes wide and held his hands up in the air on either side of him and made a silly face.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess it wasn\u2019t the kind of jelly I hated\u201d, he said with his mouth still full of food. The teacher did that laugh through her nose and shook her head. Bobby looked at all of us and rolled his eyes and made a different kind of silly face that the teacher couldn\u2019t see, like he had really done it on purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo do you want it?\u201d She held out the paper plate with the sandwich on it. He shook his head. She pushed her lips together.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what kind of jelly don\u2019t you like?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d, he said, wrinkling his nose, \u201cThe dark kind I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou mean grape jelly?\u201d she asked. He nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay\u201d, said the teacher, \u201cI will make a note of that.\u201d She waved her finger in the air, \u201cNo grape jelly for Bobby!\u201d<\/p>\n

She held out the plate and looked at the rest of us. \u201cAnybody want a second sandwich?\u201d All of us shook our heads.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight\u201d, said the teacher, and I could tell she was a little bit mad but trying not to look mad. She headed off to the other tables asking if anybody wanted it.<\/p>\n

Bobby leaned in towards the table and turned his head to look to both sides of him and spoke quietly but fiercely. \u201cOkay. The secret war starts NOW!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what do we do?\u201d one boy asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t talk to the girls or even look at them. And if they try to play with us we don\u2019t let them\u201d Bobby said, \u201cAnd we tell all the other boys about the secret war but don\u2019t let the teachers or the girls find out.\u201d<\/p>\n

All the boys around us were quiet. No one asked any more questions. I actually had never thought about a \u201csecret war\u201d, and thought it was a pretty interesting idea, though we shouldn\u2019t fight it against the girls but against the grownups. We got up from the table and the teacher came around with a big brown \u201ctrash bag\u201d and told us to put our plates and milk boxes in it. The main teacher came out and in a loud voice said it was \u201cnap time\u201d.<\/p>\n

We all had to come inside and find a spot on the floor to lie down. The teachers had put these small rug things down everywhere for us to lie on. Those cover things were pulled down over all the windows so the rooms were kind of dark. At home I would usually take a nap sometime after lunch, but it was always when I wanted to and mom and dad never told me I had to, so I didn\u2019t like the teachers telling us we had to do that. As all us kids crowded together back into the house, Bobby was behind me.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember the secret war\u201d, he said quietly but with a fierce voice, \u201cStay away from the girls\u201d. I didn\u2019t like him telling me what to do either. It\u2019s not like he was some older kid who knew more and was telling you the best thing to do.<\/p>\n

I watched the other kids quickly find spots to lie down, like maybe that was the spot where they always lay down. Bobby and a bunch of the other boys had filled up one of the rooms and there was just one spot left next to him, but I did not want to go in there. I didn\u2019t want to be around Bobby. Even when he wasn\u2019t talking it just didn\u2019t feel good to be near him. A teacher was behind me.<\/p>\n

\u201cCooper\u201d, she said quietly, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you take that spot there with the other boys.\u201d She pointed at that spot next to Bobby. I didn\u2019t know what to say but I could feel my head shaking and I just stood there. She put her hands on my shoulders and patted them, like that was supposed to make me do what she wanted.<\/p>\n

\u201cSweetie\u201d, she said, in that way that grownups did when they wanted to tell you what to do but didn\u2019t want to sound fierce, \u201cI know it\u2019s your first day here and you\u2019re just getting used to things, but every day after lunch all the children take a nap. You\u2019ll be able to play again after just a little while.\u201d She had her hands on my back and shoulder in a way that the only way I could move away from her was into that room with Bobby.<\/p>\n

I heard the main teacher\u2019s voice from somewhere behind me.<\/p>\n

\u201cMiss Karen\u201d, she asked, \u201cDoes Cooper need some help finding a place for his nap?\u201d I could hear her using her in charge voice. I wondered if I was going to be in trouble. I wondered if they might even spank me like dad had done that other day. Mom wasn\u2019t around to tell them not to. I figured I better just go and lie down at that spot next to Bobby, so I did.<\/p>\n

The teacher said to the main teacher, \u201cIt\u2019s okay Mrs. Schumacher, we found a good spot.\u201d A spot, but not a good one, I thought.<\/p>\n

When the teacher, \u201cMiss Karen\u201d, had left the doorway, I could hear some of the boys whispering to each other, talking about the \u201cwar\u201d with the girls. Bobby turned over on his rug and looked at me.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember the war\u201d, he said in a whisper. \u201cThat Cindy girl was trying to give me her cooties earlier. Yuck!\u201d He made a fierce smile. \u201cBut we\u2019ll fix her, and all the rest of them!\u201d. He nodded at me like he knew I thought so too, though I didn\u2019t. He turned back over away from me.<\/p>\n

The in charge teacher appeared in the doorway. \u201cSettle down boys. That\u2019s good\u201d, she said, then left. It got quieter, though I could hear a couple boys whispering still but could not figure out what they were saying.<\/p>\n

What was this crazy place, I wondered. Why did mom and dad make me go here? Was it because I had been bad? Had Bobby and all these other kids here been bad too? Mom hadn\u2019t said anything like that when she left me here this morning. She said that she thought I might like it, that she \u201choped\u201d I liked it. Maybe it was not that I had been bad, but that she wanted to spend more time with David. But mom didn\u2019t have to spend MUCH time with me, except to tie my \u201cdamn\u201d shoes or make me food I didn\u2019t know how to make yet, like dinner. I could make my own cereal for breakfast, make a peanut butter or even a baloney sandwich for lunch, play by myself or with Molly or another friend. Mom and dad didn\u2019t need to help me with that. Well dad had to go to the gravel pit place to get the dirt for my dirt pile. But that was only once.<\/p>\n

As I was thinking all these things over and over in different ways as I lay on my little rug, I felt more and more like I wanted to cry. I couldn\u2019t remember the last time I felt like crying. Mom said that it was okay to cry when you felt sad, that she did sometimes. Dad never cried, but I guess men weren\u2019t supposed to, because they had to fight in wars. I guess it was okay for boys to cry, just sometimes, like if you fell down and scraped your knee or your elbow and it hurt bad, but only for a little bit until somebody told you you were okay. Molly never cried, at least I hadn\u2019t seen her, even both times she jumped off the merry-go-round at the park and got blood on her knees and elbows.<\/p>\n

Each time I felt like I wanted to cry I remembered that Bobby was lying next to me, and if he heard me cry, he would think I was some \u201csissy\u201d kid with cooties. All the boys would go to war with me too.<\/p>\n

I needed to figure out a way to get out of this place. To get mom and dad to just let me be at home like before. Maybe mom really thought this was a good place, but it really wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

It seemed like this \u201cnap time\u201d was never going to end, and I wondered if I could sneak out of the house somehow. I rolled off my little rug and got on my hands and knees. The boy next to me had his eyes closed and was quiet. Bobby on the other side of me had his back to me. I creeped forward on my hands and knees to the wall and then along the wall towards the door. I heard steps in the hallway outside the room and that \u201cMiss Karen\u201d teacher appeared in the doorway and looked down at me with a friendly face.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving trouble sleeping Cooper?\u201d she asked, \u201cIt\u2019s your first day so that\u2019s to be expected, you\u2019re not used to how we do things here.\u201d The smile on her face turned into a frown. \u201cOh dear, what\u2019s wrong? Do you miss your mom and dad?\u201d<\/p>\n

I looked up at her and I nodded. What I really missed was being in my own house and backyard where I could go wherever I wanted without grownups watching me all time. Or in the park, where if there was a boy like Bobby I could just go somewhere else where he wasn\u2019t around to bother me. Maybe she would help me. She seemed like she wasn\u2019t THAT old. She took my hand and I stood up and we walked down the hall and outside into the back yard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw you playing with Tinker Toys earlier. Do you like making things with Tinker Toys?\u201d<\/p>\n

I nodded, and figured I should say something so she didn\u2019t think I was afraid to talk. \u201cI like making spaceships and space machines.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now she nodded. \u201cWow\u201d, she said, \u201cI\u2019d love to see some of the things you make. We usually keep the Tinker Toys inside, but would you like to sit at this table out here and play with them while I set up the backyard for the afternoon?\u201d<\/p>\n

I nodded again. I sat down at the table and she went back inside and brought out a big round tube with the \u201cTinker Toy\u201d words on it. It was just like the ones I had at home. I opened the lid and pulled pieces out and started building a spaceship. I watched her clean up the tables and put some of the chairs on top of each other in this small house thing in the backyard.<\/p>\n

Finally, all the other kids started coming outside. A girl noticed what I was building with the Tinker Toys and came over and sat next to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you making rockets?\u201d, she asked.<\/p>\n

I nodded. \u201cI\u2019m making a bunch of spaceships that can be hooked together to make a space station.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike Tom Swift did\u201d, she said, and smiled. \u201cCan I build some too and then we can hook them all together in space?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

I nodded again, though I thought that most girls other than Molly only did Nancy Drew stuff. She didn\u2019t say anything more and went to work. There weren\u2019t enough of the long purple pieces, so we decided that we had to build some of the spaceships smaller with green or even blue pieces. And there also weren\u2019t enough of those flat pieces to have each rocket have four tail fins, so we decided to give them each only two so we could make more rockets.<\/p>\n

Some boy came up and stared at us. \u201cYou\u2019re not supposed to play with Tinker Toys outside\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy not?\u201d asked the girl, \u201cYou\u2019re not in charge!\u201d she said fiercely.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not supposed to\u201d he said, \u201cTeacher said. I don\u2019t want you to get in trouble, that\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay\u201d, the girl said, her voice less fierce.<\/p>\n

The main teacher, Mrs Schumacher, came up behind the boy and put her hands on his shoulders and patted them.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re right Bradley\u201d, she said, \u201cWe normally don\u2019t take the Tinker Toys outdoors. But this is Cooper\u2019s first day and Miss Karen said he had trouble taking a nap so she gave him something to play with until nap time was done. But the room inside where we play with the Tinker Toys had children sleeping so we let him play with them outside just until nap time was over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bradley wrinkled his nose and nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo Marta and Cooper\u201d, the main teacher said, picking up the pieces we had not used yet and putting them back in the tube, \u201cCan you two take all these things you\u2019ve made inside to the table in the Blue Room?\u201d<\/p>\n

Marta rolled her eyes and said \u201cOkay\u201d, but it didn\u2019t sound like she really wanted to. The main teacher put the lid on the tube and took it inside. Marta took the two spaceships she had made and followed the teacher. I had gathered all three spaceships I had made into my hands and stood up when Bobby appeared right in front of me.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d he said with an angry voice, \u201cYou\u2019re not supposed to play with the girls. Remember the secret war?\u201d<\/p>\n

He looked over at Marta carrying her spaceships toward the house. She stopped, turned around, and gave Bobby a fierce look.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that Marta girl has the worst cooties of all\u201d, he said, then turning back to me, \u201cAre you going to fight the war or get cooties too?\u201d<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know what to say so I looked at Marta.<\/p>\n

Marta wrinkled her nose and chin and marched up to Bobby. \u201cI do not have cooties\u201d, she said, angrily, \u201cYou take that back!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t\u201d, said Bobby, the other two boys on either side of him staring at Marta, \u201cYou have cooties and they\u2019re really BAD cooties too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou take that back or else!\u201d Marta said with a loud voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cOr else what?\u201d said Bobby.<\/p>\n

Marta hit him over the head with the bigger Tinker Toy spaceship she had made. It broke into pieces and scattered in the grass around him. I could see the fear and surprise in Bobby\u2019s eyes and he started to cry.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarta\u201d, said that Miss Karen teacher, coming running towards us, \u201cWhat are you doing? We don\u2019t hit people like that!\u201d<\/p>\n

The teacher kneeled down in front of Bobby and put her hands on his shoulders and looked at him closely. \u201cBobby, are you all right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe hit me\u201d, he said, still crying.<\/p>\n

She looked at his head and ran her fingers through his hair. \u201cOh dear\u201d, she said as she stood up and put her hand on her forehead. \u201cBobby and Marta, you need to both come inside with me right now!\u201d She took each of their hands and led them back inside the house. Marta looked back at me as the teacher led her away.<\/p>\n

I put my own Tinker Toy spaceships back down on the table and picked up all the pieces of Marta\u2019s broken one and put it back together. Then I managed to take all the spaceships she and I had made, and carry everything in my arms into the house to the big table in the Blue room. I didn\u2019t see Marta or Bobby in any of the rooms where kids were. I wondered if the teachers were going to spank Marta. I wondered if teachers did that kind of stuff when you were bad.<\/p>\n

There were a few other boys playing at the table. They asked me if I wanted to play \u201cChutes and Ladders\u201d with them but I shook my head. They looked like they were mad at me that I wouldn\u2019t play. That was the game that Kenny got me for my birthday. I had played it a few times with Kenny, or with Molly or one of my other friends, but I didn\u2019t like it very much. You really couldn\u2019t decide what to do. You just spun the spinner and you hoped you got a number that got you to go up a ladder and not down a slide. You could pretend you were a better player if you won the game, but it was all that \u201cluck\u201d thing, and you didn\u2019t do any thinking that really made you better.<\/p>\n

As I looked at the rocket ship that that girl Marta had made that she had hit Bobby on the head with, I wondered again if this was a place they sent kids who were bad. Maybe Marta was bad because she hit people. Maybe Bobby was bad because he wanted to fight wars all the time. I wondered if I had been sent here because I was bad. Maybe the grownups figured out that I wanted to start a war with them even before I\u2019d figured it out myself. Maybe I used to be good, but maybe I had gotten bad somehow. That was why dad had hit me on the bottom the other day, because I was starting to say bad words and just getting bad. Now maybe I was too bad to stay at home so I had to be here, like that \u201cjail\u201d place on that \u201cGunsmoke\u201d show that dad liked to watch. Maybe I only had to be here during the day, because mom did say she would pick me up in the afternoon.<\/p>\n

While I was hooking Marta\u2019s and my rocket ships together to make a space station like Tom Swift, I was surprised to notice Bobby standing next to me again.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey made that girl go home\u201d, he said, \u201cHer mom came and made her say she was sorry. She was crying like a girl.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some boys said stuff like that. That girls were \u201ccrybabies\u201d, and boys were better because they weren\u2019t. I felt angry at him and the words just came out of my mouth, though I kept looking at the Tinker Toy space station. \u201cYou were crying too when she hit you.\u201d<\/p>\n

He looked down at my Tinker Toy space station and shook his head. \u201cI wasn\u2019t really crying, it just hurt a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t think getting hit on the head with Tinker Toys would really hurt you.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid the teachers spank her?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d, he said, \u201cBut it looked like her mom was going to spank her really hard.\u201d He chuckled, \u201cShe deserved it!\u201d<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t say anything. I didn\u2019t think she deserved it.<\/p>\n

He looked around and leaned close to me and whispered in my ear, \u201cThat\u2019s why we need to have a war against the girls. Her cooties were really bad, but all girls have them. You really don\u2019t want to get them, it\u2019ll wreck you forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was thinking about Molly. She wouldn\u2019t just hit Bobby over the head with Tinker Toys, she\u2019d probably punch him too.<\/p>\n

Still whispering like he didn\u2019t want others to hear he said, \u201cMy mom\u2019s here to pick me up, but tomorrow morning we\u2019ll all meet at the tree fort and make a plan for the war. You can help me be in charge!\u201d I didn\u2019t say anything or even look at him.<\/p>\n

I heard a grownup\u2019s voice off in the hallway say, \u201cBobby! Right now Bobby! Chop chop!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJeez mom\u201d, Bobby said and left the room.<\/p>\n

\u201cLanguage young man\u201d, the grownup voice said, \u201cYou know what your father said!\u201d I heard the front door of the house open and close. I was so glad Bobby was gone.<\/p>\n

But he would be back tomorrow. I would be back tomorrow. Was this where I would go every day, now that grownups, maybe my parents even, thought I was a bad kid?<\/p>\n

Tears filled the bottom of my eyes and I felt like I wanted to cry. I WASN\u2019T a bad kid! Maybe I said that swear word to mom, but I thought it was okay because of what she had said about when it was okay to use those kind of words. I needed another chance to show them that I was really good. I needed to get out of this place and talk to my mom and show her and dad I wasn\u2019t bad. I couldn\u2019t tell the teachers because they were the ones in charge of making me stay here.<\/p>\n

I ran out into the backyard, past the tables where kids were sitting, past the tree fort where other kids were playing, to the metal fence at the very back of the yard. Through the fence I saw a boy younger than me running around flying a small toy airplane he was holding in his hand. He wasn\u2019t one of the kids in the school because he was on the other side of the fence. He was just playing in the backyard of his own house. I thought of that song my dad always liked to sing, \u201cDon\u2019t fence me in\u201d. I gripped the fence with my hands and pressed my face against it, and the metal felt cold and hard. The boy noticed me.<\/p>\n

I tried to talk without crying but couldn\u2019t. \u201cPlease help me get out of here\u201d, I said sobbing, \u201cTell my mom I won\u2019t swear again and I\u2019ll always be good!\u201d<\/p>\n

The boy stopped flying his toy plane and looked at me. I could tell by his face that he didn\u2019t know what to do. He just stared at me.<\/p>\n

\u201cCooper\u201d, it was the teacher\u2019s voice behind me, \u201cWhat\u2019s happening back here?\u201d That Miss Karen teacher came up next to me and put her hand on my shoulder.<\/p>\n

She looked at my face. \u201cDear, have you been crying?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t want her to know I was crying, because she might figure out that I was trying to get away. I shook my head but my eyes were still wet with tears and I rubbed my shirt sleeve on them.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh dear\u201d, she said, in that voice that grownups use when they think a kid is sad and they want you to tell them why, \u201cHere, sit with me and let\u2019s talk about it.\u201d She did that other thing that grownups do, and put her hands on my shoulders and turned me away from the back fence and kind of made me walk back towards the other kids in the backyard. But before we got to the tree fort she had me sit down in the grass next to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks like something is making you sad\u201d, she said, looking at my eyes, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong dear? Please tell me and maybe I can help make it better.\u201d<\/p>\n

I looked at her face and she had a sad look but her eyes seemed friendly. But sometimes grownups tried to look that way to get kids to say things that the kid didn\u2019t want to say. I just looked at her trying to decide what to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cWas it what happened with Marta and Bobby?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

I nodded my head. I wanted to tell her that Bobby had told Marta that she had really bad cooties, but unlike my friend Kenny, I never told on kids to grownups.<\/p>\n

Then I saw the main teacher standing above us and mom was standing next to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s going on here Miss Karen?\u201d the main teacher asked.<\/p>\n

The Miss Karen teacher looked up at her, \u201cCooper was just feeling really sad about that thing earlier with Marta and Bobby.\u201d<\/p>\n

I looked up at mom and she suddenly had a very worried look on her face. She got down on her knees in front of me.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoolie\u201d, she said, \u201cAre you okay?\u201d<\/p>\n

I shook my head.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to go home?\u201d mom asked.<\/p>\n

I nodded.<\/p>\n

Mom\u2019s face got fierce. She stood up and turned to the main teacher.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetty\u201d, she said, \u201cI don\u2019t know that this is working out!\u201d<\/p>\n

The main teacher looked worried and blew air out of her mouth. \u201cMrs. Zale\u2026 uh Jane\u201d, she said, \u201cThere was an incident earlier between two other children that may have upset Cooper. Your son is sensitive and it may just take him a day or two to adjust. Parents tend to jump the gun on these decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mom nodded, but her face was still fierce. \u201cBetty, thanks for the heads up and assessment. Despite what the \u2018parenting\u2019 experts might say, I believe very strongly that bright kids will tell you what they need! I\u2019ll take Cooper home and discuss it with him. I\u2019ll let him decide if he wants to come back. I\u2019ll pay you for today at least.\u201d<\/p>\n

The main teacher shook her head. \u201cIf you decide not to come back, that won\u2019t be necessary. And I\u2019ll refund your deposit. I believe in my program, but if you feel it\u2019s not the right place for your son, that is of course your decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you Betty\u201d, mom said, her face now more friendly, \u201cMoney is tight right now, so I appreciate the refund offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The main teacher nodded and looked up at the sky, thinking.<\/p>\n

Mom turned to Miss Karen. \u201cKaren. We only briefly met this morning, but I saw you just now sitting with Cooper. Thanks for helping him out!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course Mrs. Zale\u201d, she said, \u201cCooper is such a nice young man!\u201d<\/p>\n

Mom chuckled and said, \u201cI don\u2019t disagree with that\u201d. She looked at me with her big smile and big round twinkly eyes and her eyebrows raised up.<\/p>\n

Then Miss Karen looked at me. \u201cIt was a pleasure to meet you Cooper! I hope you do decide to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

I nodded but didn\u2019t say anything. But I was happy that mom thought I was nice and not bad. That changed everything.<\/p>\n

On the way home in the car mom asked me what happened to make me upset. I said that the teachers made everybody take a nap after lunch. I also told her this boy wanted to fight a war with the girls, and wanted me to help even though I didn\u2019t want to. I didn\u2019t say which boy it was because that would be telling. Even though I didn\u2019t like Bobby, he was still a kid like me.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you want to give it another try tomorrow?\u201d she asked. I shook my head.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo no then!\u201d she said. I nodded.<\/p>\n

I was so happy inside that I wasn\u2019t going back there and that she didn\u2019t think I was a bad kid. But I knew I had to be more careful to never do anything that might make mom and dad, or any other grownups, think I was bad. Or do anything like that around Kenny, because he would probably tell.<\/p>\n

She blew air out of her mouth. \u201cOh coolie, I\u2019m sorry you had such a bad day. I\u2019m just trying to help you get ready to go to school, to kindergarten, next fall.\u201d<\/p>\n

She stopped talking and just drove the car and looked out the front window. She did shake her head a couple times. I could tell she was thinking and worrying.<\/p>\n

Click here to read next chapter<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was in the backyard of this house I had never seen before when mom left me here this morning, now sitting at this long table with a bunch of other boys. Some were my age and some were a little younger. The girls were sitting at another long table next to ours, not because […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[13,1773,515,1775],"class_list":["post-7172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","tag-ann-arbor","tag-childhood","tag-human-development","tag-memoir"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7172"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7183,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7172\/revisions\/7183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}