Hey there everyone,

Time for me to sit here and type. The past week has been a bit rough. It all started on Monday when I was at work. One of the girls went to the bathroom with a friend and came out and said the stall door hit her in the head. I went to go look and ....well no duh it hit her in the head. She ripped it off the hinge. So I called her in to explain to me what happened and she said she slammed it. Then the story turns into that she slammed a few times, then the story turns into she slammed hard......okay after 15 minutes of talking back and forth and her admitting that she is the one who did it and her other friend saying she saw the door going the wrong way...bla bla bla.....

Actually the door didn't brake...it was ripped from its hinge which says..."hanging and swinging on the door?" Okay mind you they were in the bathroom unattended for say 3 minutes about as long as it takes to do your business and wash your hands and get out..... I had to show her dad. I felt terrible for her because I knew she was going to get in REAL TROUBLE when they left because her dad is very strict. We live in the nicer part of town and most of the kids that come to ET have parents that have nice jobs like doctors and their own businesses and such. I wouldn't think that our school would have the more problematic kids..... well we do. I would say that a couple times a week something bad enough happens that I have to talk to their parents about.

I have decided to change our warnings system. They get 3 warnings then a write-up that goes to the park district. It takes a really long time but there is a limit to the number of write-ups before they get booted from ET after an observation period and another few write-ups after that.... Anyway......

I have to keep them on their toes so..... They get TALLY MARKS now. If they get 3 tally marks for the same thing in a day they get a write-up. Now they are totally straightening out and the rest of the week has been a piece of cake. For example, a child gets 4 marks for talking back to staff and being disrespectful to staff.....thats a write-up then he or she get a mark or two for swearing. I talk to the parents as well. Bad example for the other kids...or good example...snowball effect. I can't believe it is working. Lay down the law every day and keep them busy with guided activities and guided free play. Lots of games and crafts and homework. These kids are K-4th and most of them are so sweat and great but the group of boys we have are nearing being sold to the nearest gysies. Frightfuly close to being sold for a handsome booty. LOL. O like tham all and I am glad the tally system is working better. Its sort of the same thing as the other thing we were doing but the kids a change in order to stay on top of things.

Sometimes I wonder what we are doing to our kids these days in order for them to act so badley away from the home.

Well, Amanda, I think a huge part of the problem with misbehaving kids is that the parents can't discipline them, anymore. It's against the law, these days. So, the kids get away with murder while the parents are forced by law to stand back and watch it happen. The only way to reverse this is to return parenting rights to parents. Just my opinion, of course.

As for the new set-up you've put together, I hope it continues to give you positive results. When kids know where they stand, and when that is consistent, the results can be amazing. Keep up the great work!

Have a great weekend, my friend. I'm sure we'll talk again soon.

Hey darlin, just droppin by to say hi and wish you a great week.

Good morning, Amanda. Happy Hump Day. Thanks for dropping by and commenting on my "Surprise Recordings" post. I'll listen to the clip again - maybe you're right; maybe it is "Persian" - and see what I hear.

Hope to see you at the launch of the new site today, my friend - check your email for details.