We have calm, sort of

We have achieved a level of calm on the school front; Kevin is happy enough in his new class and the teasing has abated. This is mostly owed, I think, to the dawning realization on the part of his former homeroom classmates that their teacher is the sort who has to have someone to pick on, and now one of them is about to become her target. Instead of feeling vindicated, he worries mostly that whomever winds up in her sights won't have the support that he did, and her tyranny will continue without interference. He's probably right; she's not new to teaching and likely has a pattern of abuse that rides the line between being distasteful and worthy of being fired. She doesn't have tenure, but she's still there, making young lives miserable.

Rachel still isn't happy because she's lonely and doesn't quite fit in with the kids who are making an effort to be friendly; she grasps that the age difference right now is too much; they're all 17 and 18, and she's 13. She understands that they're being nice, but those friendships don't extend beyond lunch hour. She really only seems to come alive once she's home and is on the phone with her friends, or if they're hanging around here. We've been waffling on what to do for her; she desperately wants us to pull her out of school now and let her attend public school with her friends, but we think that this is important for her to face, at least for a little while. It's painful but it's not fatal, and we will address it further in a few weeks. We have options for her, and if she doesn't begin making friends, we'll do something more.

This isn't an emergency for her; she's not being threatened, her education isn't in peril. She's simply unhappy and lonely, and while we hate seeing her like this, it isn't something over which we need to leap into action.

The main concern we have is that while we're gone, all the kids will be safe where they are. Alex is doing just fine with his schedule and is doing well, so we're not terribly worried about him, and I'm confident Brad can handle any issues that come up with Rachel or Kevin.

The wedding is in a week, and while we're all looking forward to it, I also think we'll be glad when it's over. Peter and Nika will leave on their honeymoon Thursday night and Char and I will follow on Saturday. In spite of my initial reservations about going on their honeymoon, after the summer we had (very enjoyable, but extremely busy) and the stresses the kids' school has imposed lately, I think we're going to relish the time away.

Oh, and for the record, I can passably understand a few different languages, but that doesn't mean I also speak them with any appreciable skill, and I certainly can't read or write anything other than English. If you find me online using something other than English, I'm using Google Translator.