Isaac Bullied at School Yesterday

I don't have much time right now, but I've been wanting to post this all day, so here goes. Hopefully, it'll be short and sweet and I'll have plenty of time to grab a shower and make dinner.

Isaac was bullied yesterday during the last recess by two boys, Zach and Evan (Kindergarteners from another class). They pushed him down, tackled him, and punched in the arm twice and made him cry. This is not the first time these boys have bullied him. The last time, they lost their recess privileges and had to earn them back. Anyway, as soon as Isaac told me about it last night, I emailed his teacher who forwarded it to Mr. Johnson, the Assistant Principal. Mr. Johnson called me this morning to assure me that it's a high priority to make school "a safe place" for Isaac and that he would talk to everyone involved today.

Mr. Johnson called me again this afternoon and said that the boys have written letters of apology to Isaac and that they will be disciplined. He couldn't go into what the discipline was, but on Monday he's going to meet with the three boys during recess and do a structured activity with them. I look forward to knowing what that is. Please pray that Isaac would be Christ-like: especially loving, forgiving, and gracious, and that Zach and Evan would learn compassion and the appropriate way to play, and that all three boys would learn a positive lesson from this. I don't know what the boys' home lives are like, but I pray that they would receive the love and attention and direction they need from the adults who care for them. In addition, please pray for Isaac to learn to love his enemies and to pray for them. What an opportunity for an object lesson this provides for Isaac. Still, it breaks my heart to know that he was mistreated. But I'm happy to say that I have a lot of confidence in the staff at school and I am impressed at how quickly this was handled and that my concerns have been heard and measures have been put in place. As for the long term, however, it remains to be seen whether those measures will be successful. I'll update my blog later when I find out more information. Thanks for your prayers.

No Front Teeth!

Isaac lost his 4th tooth just now. Check out his adorable toothless grin! His smile will sure look different when his permanent teeth come in. (Click on a picture to see him better.)

Happy New Year!

Isaac lost his 3rd tooth a few minutes ago, so here I am blogging about it. It's one of his top front teeth. He's so excited about getting a quarter from the tooth fairy tonight.

I gave both kids haircuts today. Allie's is much shorter than usual and really cute!

By the way, I think I figured out where the burning smell (see previous post) was coming from. I discovered two books of matches in the silverware drawer that were unused but had burn marks on the flap. Every time the drawer was opened and closed, the contents of the drawer were shoved back and forth. My theory is that it caused friction and nearly started a fire. So if you store matches in a drawer where the contents slide around every time it's opened or closed, better move those matches to a shelf. Lesson learned. Thank the Lord that it didn't cause a disaster!!!

Have you hugged a firefighter today?

Allison did! She hugged a police officer too! The kids and I were eating lunch in the kitchen when we smelled something burning. The smoke alarms didn't go off (we know they work) and there was no smoke to be seen. My mind went through a mental checklist: I hadn't been burning any candles, I keep the matches out of reach of the kids, we were in the kitchen/family room all morning playing games on the Wii. Would could it be? It smelled like it was coming from under the kitchen sink. I walked around and sniffed all the rooms and found the same smell in Allison's room, which is right above the kitchen. Should I call the fire department? Nah, I'll call Shane. So I called Shane at work (duh! what could he do from there?). Then I swallowed my jitters and called 911. A friendly police officer met us outside. She took a look around and talked to us while we waited for the fire trucks to come. It was cool to hear the sirens from a long way off and know that they were coming right to our house. There were two fire trucks and an ambulance -- I guess the ambulance typically comes as a precaution. The firefighters went in and used their thermal camera to see inside the walls and found everything to be okay. They also used a "sniffer" to check for a gas leak. I appreciated their coming out and checking things out. I sure have a huge respect for everyone who came today. One of firefighters emphasized that it's okay to call them again if I need to and it would be no trouble at all for them to come out again.
So, about 30 minutes after I called 911, we went back in and finished our lunches. I still smelled the smell but it was less. I'm glad to say it was a fun adventure.