There is a huge chance this could turn into one of those long-winded, moody-type schpiels. I hate making those posts. It's just not ME, you know. But I've got something on my mind, and it's about Harper, so I figured I could slip it into one of her music dealies, and no one would make too big of a thing about it. Pretty sneaky, huh?
Yesterday, I had one of those super-fun parent/teacher conferences at school. This is the second one I've had in as many months. She's not going around beating the snot out of the other kids, or anything like that, it's more to do with some of the things she says, which they've deemed 'innapropriate'. So, I was told by her teacher, the school nurse, the guidance counseler and some other woman, that 'perhaps' I should have her go in for psychological testing. YAY! THEY THINK MY KID'S CRAZY!
Oy.
As you may imagine, I was less than thrilled with this assessment of my pride and joy. I mean, they didn't come right out and say that was what they thought. Basically, they said that she was very smart, in fact one of them ACTUALLY SAID that she was "too smart for her own good" (!!), and it might be working against her. In effect, she has a vivid imagination, she says and does things that they don't get, and some of the kids are afraid of her.
You know, if this wasn't making me so upset, I'd be really proud that I gave birth to a mad genius.
The thing about this that really pisses me off, is that I don't know if I agree or disagree with what they said. Now, I don't think that's she's bonkers, or anything like that-she's certainly quirky, that's for damn sure, and even though I know that kind of thing is frowned upon (especially in small town Texas), it still makes me angry that instead of trying to understand her, they've just decided that it's a negative quality and it's to be stiffled (one of them, only one, surprisingly, made mention of medication. NO.)
However, there's a part of me, the Mom part of me, that wants her to be accepted and not thought of as a pariah, and knows that she has a tendency to cause some awkward moments when we're out(I've cringed at some of the stuff that comes out of her mouth when we're in public.) But see, that's just it though: maybe because I'm a bit on the odd side, I don't notice it as much, but when she's at home, she doesn't say anything that I'VE-or anyone else here, now that I think about it-ever construed as being peculiar. At home, she acts like a normal kid, for the most part, and only when she leaves the comfort of home does she let her freak flag fly. I'm sure part of the answer lies in that statement, but aside from keeping her prisoner, I can't glean a solution from it.
I guess I'll go ahead and get her tested, because maybe I can learn something from what they find, even if it's nothing (which is not without precedent: when she was about 4, we had to take her to a shrink because she bit her endocrinologist. The psychiatrist said he didn't think there was anything wrong with her, in his opinion, she was just fed up with being stuck with huge needles. Get. Out.)
But I digress...
Actually, I wasn't going to post this Bizarre thing after saying all that, but it's actually in context with what I just talked about. See, my sister in law got Harper a guitar for Christmas. Well, she's just loving the hell out of that damn instrument, however my ears are less than thrilled. I've ALMOST told her to give it a rest many a time, but since the first school meeting, I've opted to let her release her creativity here, at home, where it won't get her into trouble, even at the risk of my own sanity-I'm a SAINT, doncha know? So, I let her pluck along to my CDs, and right now, she's way into Guided By Voices, which isn't so bad. She doesn't sound ANYTHING like what she's playing along with, of course, but she's happy, so I don't give a rat's ass that it sounds like she's poking a cat with a sharp stick.
I told you-I'm a SAINT.
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