DS Awareness Month: School Days and Discipline

I don't know what happened last night. I had the post all ready to go, and posted it to Facebook...guess I just forgot to post it to the blog. So, if I am able to post all 31 days of October for Down Syndrome Awareness/Acceptance Month...I'll be a day off from Facebook. I don't like to be "off."

The time Joshua spent in elementary school was good, and it was hard. Joshua was a trailblazer, and that exhausting for all of us. He was also a charmer...and he was a mess-and-a-half! 

There were a few times when he was called to the principal's office. And a few more times that I was called there as well, making the walk of shame from the parking lot into the school. Times when "discipline was required," as stated in the school's handbook. 

Fortunately, and by God's plan and provision, we had the best principal. Mr. Wood was a kind man with a huge heart for kids. Joshua loved Mr. Wood, and Mr. Wood loved Joshua. But there were rules, and Joshua was breaking some of them. And while he knew exactly what he was doing when he did it, he did not quite have the whole consequences thing down. 

So there were a few times when Joshua had to be paddled at school, and bc we signed the form saying we wanted to be contacted first...we had to go to the principal's at school. And by "we," I mean ME...bc Jim was usually at work. Mr. Wood talked to me parent-to-parent...like friends...and he never made Jim and I feel like we weren't doing a good job with Joshua. We were never in the room when Joshua was paddled, but Mr. Wood would tell us about it later. He would talk to Joshua about his behavior, and the reason he was getting paddled. He said Joshua would listen to him so carefully...his brown eyes watching the emotion on Mr. Wood's face. 

Sometimes, Mr. Wood couldn't bring himself to do it...sometimes they just talked. Sometimes they cried. 

Both of them. 

Like discipline grieves the heart of a parent, it grieved Mr. Wood's heart as well. So thankful for his compassionate heart. 

We need more people like Mr. Wood in our schools.

"People who accept discipline are on the pathway to life, but those who ignore correction will go astray." Proverbs 10:17