Parents can be SO LAME

Today I get a note in my box from a parent. She says 'My daughter is afraid to sing the song about witches (um what witches song?), she didn't want to come to school today. If you could please avoid singing it we would appreciate it.'

OH COME ON!!! For one thing the kid showed NO signs of being scared the days we sang it - and for one thing it was a week ago. Funny how she decides to tell her mom she doesn't want to go to school a week later when she has music. How naive can you be?

This is the song 'Skin and Bones' - singing about an old woman who lives by a graveyard, opens a closet door and BOO! I'm sure many of you know it.

And we're gonna censor Halloween songs now? I literally thought I had to re-do my lesson and take out any 'scary' references. I found a song and it mentioned a witch so I decided to change a line!

Then I spoke to my principal and she thought it was ridiculous- she told me to speak to the kid and come up with an alternative.

I spoke to her...OMG this can't be the same kid that was scared to go to school! She was all smiles!!! I asked her why she didn't want to come to school today and she mentioned that the graveyard scared her. I also wanted to be sure no other Halloween things upset her...God knows I'd have to change my whole lesson around. I said she could imagine something silly happening instead and it made her laugh.

Comes to class- and she is all smiles and giggles.

Whyyyy do parents coddle their children? She couldn't have a talk with her kid about it to see what was REALLY bothering her? Maybe reassure her by saying, oh there's nothing to be scared of...it's pretend.

Puhleaze. The woman just wants to boss someone around. She's known for this.

Sorry that ended up long. I just find it so ridiculous!

OMG Tara! I'm so sorry...How stupid can that woman be? Can you imagine if we tried to pull that on our parents when we were kids?!

I understand where you're coming from...

but...

AS A PARENT of a 7 year old... I have learned this:

believe HALF of what our kids tell you... and we'll believe HALF of what they come home and tell US.


hahaha.

Maybe the mom over reacted but you never know what the kid came home and told her.

my cat recently scratched up my son's face (happens more often than you think) and he told me his teacher doesn;t want him to come to school anymroe when he has scratches on his face.

i chose, this time, to NOT believe my son...
[sn0rt]

That parent is a moron. I wonder if she wrote letters to all her neighbors asking them to remove all their halloween decorations. I cannot believe she wasted her time and your time with that BS. I hate people who think the world revolves around them. Are you picking up on my anger I am laying it on pretty thick? You do not need to be annoyed about this i am annoyed enough for the two of us.

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Posted by carolinep24

I understand where you're coming from...

but...

AS A PARENT of a 7 year old... I have learned this:

believe HALF of what our kids tell you... and we'll believe HALF of what they come home and tell US.


hahaha.

Maybe the mom over reacted but you never know what the kid came home and told her.

my cat recently scratched up my son's face (happens more often than you think) and he told me his teacher doesn;t want him to come to school anymroe when he has scratches on his face.

i chose, this time, to NOT believe my son...
[sn0rt]

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that is cute - your son is very creative!

tara - i am glad you were able to handle that with the child so well, and get her smiling again - you sounds like a great teacher. too bad her mom didn't get your parenting skills!

Totally ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe she expected you to change things around just for her kid... parents (and kids) can be so annoying sometimes.

yeah, a totally lame excuse...

but I hope the parent wasn't serious about that note. (Maybe she wrote it to eliminate her kid's excuse so she would stop complaining and get on the bus?)

OMGGGGGGG We sang that in elementary school!!!!! 20 friggin years ago Who sings it? Yani or something?

That totally suckks though.. I'd hate dealing with that sh!t.

this reminds me of how I used to go to school and my best friend and I would scratch our arms until they were red, and then claim to have a rash. so that we could get sent home.

It worked the first 2 times. But the third time my mom caught on.......

Thanks for your support girls!!

Caroline, your son is a hoot!

Rosella - As far as Skin & Bones it's just a really old traditional folk song. Never recorded by Yani as far as I know.... Maybe Raffi?

Wow, that is crazy!! That is lame. As a dance teacher I do listen to the music to make sure of the lyrics. But, I see that this song had no bad language whatsoever. So, there was no reason for her to write a letter to you. She should of spoken to her daughter to find out what was really a matter. We teachers need to deal with this every now and then. I am sorry to hear about this but am happy that it was resolved quickly.

~dancer and chef~
charlotte and michael

I cant believe you actually received a note like that

This is my 3rd year using Skin & Bones ... and only once have I had a problem with it. Last year, in one of my 1st grade classes, I had 2 kids who got really scared when we worked on it.... so scared that one didn't make it down to the room, and the other asked to go to the bathroom and never came back (turns out he went up to the classroom and stayed up there).

Only parent complaint I ever got as after showing the 'Firebird' segment from Fantasia -- the parent said the kid had nightmares, but the kid never once indicated that she was afraid -- if anything she seemed excited, go figure!

Then there was the 1st grader who didn't want to sing 'There was an old lady...' because she was upset that the different animals were swallowed.

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Posted by musically

Then there was the 1st grader who didn't want to sing 'There was an old lady...' because she was that the different animals were swallowed.

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I've been meaning to do this song and was wondering how the kids would react to it!!! I was totally expecting wacky reactions!

Welcome to the boards!! It's fun having a fellow music teacher on board!!

Yeah ... it was interesting. However, we ended up writing our own words to the song: 'There was an old teacher who ate a _____' and used the kids names and something that rhymed with the name. It was very weird and cute and completely come up with on the spot.

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Posted by GettinHutched

I've been meaning to do this song and was wondering how the kids would react to it!!! I was totally expecting wacky reactions!

Welcome to the boards!! It's fun having a fellow music teacher on board!!

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