Linc's end of year school celedebacle

Not quite a celebration, more of a debacle... we just weren't prepared for what happened when we went to see Linc perform with his pre-school friends on stage at the end of year celebration.

In the days leading up to the celebration he seemed quite excited about it, even telling Carter he wasn't allowed to come up on stage with him. He appeared happy that Mum and Dad and Carter would see him perform.  On the day we dropped him off with his class (late, due to some bad parenting) and still all seemed fine.

They announced his class, and out he came in a line-up (although he wasn't wearing the flower necklace to match his classmates - first indicator something was awry) and even ran in front of the stage for a short time before going to the back and then deciding he was definitely not going to join in (it all happened very quickly). The performance started and, as he had apparently told the teachers he 'didn't want to join in' they sat him on the side of the stage (as he was still technically under their supervision). The performance kicked off with 'most' of his classmates singing and dancing while Linc sat there with a heart-breaking expression on his face. I say 'most' as apparently one or two of his classmates didn't even bother going to the celebration as the parents/teacher knew there was no way they would get up on stage. But we had no idea that Linc wouldn't participate. Finally Linc decided he wasn't going to sit there anymore, and he looked up to try to find Mum and Dad; well I was already at the side waiting for him (considering I almost went to the stage to grab him myself!)... so grabbed him and we went and sat with Carter and Mum to watch his class.

Put it down to Linc having a really bad (sleepless) night (constant nose-bleeds) + personality inherited from his parents + the first time getting up on stage in front of a crowd and it shouldn't really have been the enormous shock that it was.

Firstly we wanted someone to blame; what did the teachers say to you...? why didn't you have a flower necklace...? was it because we were late getting him to the school? Why didn't the teacher help you onto the stage and encourage you to dance? How could they leave you sitting there like that with tears in your eyes and no-one to take you away from that horrible situation. Look at the picture, and judge for yourself.

No celebrating going on in Linc's world...

But on reflection, the teachers had a class full of pre-schoolers that they had to focus on getting to sing/dance and Linc was quite adamant he wasn't going to join in (at the last minute too), so considering they couldn't let him wander from their supervision, they had no choice but to sit him there. We have obviously spoken to Linc's teacher about it; they were extremely apologetic as they agree they should have warned us that there were signs that Linc might not participate.

Anyway, we have pulled Linc out of Fraser Primary School for Kindergarten next year; I know it sounds like it's directly linked to what happened, but it's really not... although the timing of the decision may have been influenced by what happened! We are more concerned that, as we are now 'out of area' for Fraser PS, Carter is not guaranteed a place there when he starts school; plus Linc's new school is literally down the road from our new house. And of course, upon informing Fraser PS of this decision, the Principal promptly called Mum (oh yeah, Mum made Dad ring the school to inform them we were pulling them out... but they rang her about it - LOL) and asked about our decision to remove him (as the Principal had been informed about what had happened at the end of year celebration, and thought that was the overriding reason)...

While we have been throwing some ideas around over Linc's schooling for some time, the chosen school is not something we had put much thought into; it was always going to be Radford (provided he got an offer!). But at $9200/yr for Kindergarten, and around $15,000/yr for high school, that was always going to be hard to digest/afford(!)... His new school will still be a private school, and is still quite expensive, but the values that are emphasised - and underpinned by the catholic religion (rather than the other way around) - sound like a perfect fit for our expectations and the way we are bringing up the boys at home (minus the religious angle).

Oh, and I bought my dream motorcycle. The kids and the cat think it's awesome. Am I right? Say whaaaaat?.

Honda VFR800