Vow Of Silence?

Trust me, I never thought I'd say this; but I think I need a break from talking.

Seriously.

Today was the Parent-Teacher conference... OH MY GOD- like OH MY GOD. Seven hours of continuous yammering, one parent after another, without a single pause- it's a real life "parent stampede"!

A day before, as I returned home scornful of my undisciplined kids, I haughtily informed my mom that tomorrow I'm going to be vicious with some parents- REALLY going to give them a piece of my mind and unreservedly tell them that their kids are up to no good!

Come morning, though, I was back to my original nonviolent self, and even managed to think fondly of some of my boys (Aah, the blessing of sleep and forgetfulness!). The parents weren't arriving till 8, but we went at 7 to tidy up the classes and stuff.
I was so very amused when I got a text from my mommy (who had clearly taken my angry outburst seriously!) reminding me of what Mary Poppins said: "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine goes down"- and asking me to apply this when I'm delivering bad news to the parents.

Aren't mommies the best?:)

Apart from the fact that I lost all sensation in my throat, it was a success, thank God.
I mean, I heard some teachers talking about getting some really really rude or annoying parents. I thank God a million times I didn't, I don't think I would've handled that- I'm still not strong enough, but getting there!
The parents I got today, for the most part, were sweethearts.

I must admit that although I believe that stereotyping is wrong, I am guilty of having a LOT of preconceived notions about a typical Kuwaiti family. I'm pretty sure most of us have the same stereotype, when it comes to people from the gulf. You know, uninvolved parents, too many servants cooks and drivers, who take over the role of "mom" and "dad", you know what I'm talking about.

Today though I was forced to change it (or at least acknowledge that although there is some truth to it, there are considerable exceptions). I've met fathers who seemed more involved and concerned about their son's well being than actual mothers I know!
The parents were so understanding, sweet and appreciative. And considering I was telling them things like "your kid has absolutely no idea what's happening in class- I could switch to a history lesson and he wouldn't notice"- they took it pretty well and promised to cooperate.

I had one dad, who totally made me smile, he was so cute! We were talking about his son's behavior in class, and discussing how he's smart, but playful and keeps getting distracted- next thing I know, he pauses and tells me "but you know, he's a good kid..." and goes on to relate a long weird story that has something to do with visiting his auntie and going to the supermarket- I'm not quite sure I understood it, but the way he was talking about his kid, so lovingly and fondly, it was such a heart-warming thing to see!

And another mother told me that her kid says that he gets distracted because "Fawaz iyla3wizni".
I was like "Oh my God YES he told me that! WHAT THE HECK IS "iyla3wizni"?

I swear to God, when I hear those kids speak in Arabic, they make me doubt it's my mother tongue!! Weird weird words, I'm telling you! I just crack up and say something like "Fawaz! Stop la3wizing him, it's not nice"- and hope for the best.

All in all, it went well. No blood shed, which is always a good thing;)

I went home beat up, cuz my day started at 4 am. I woke up that early to write down all the comments I want to say- I was kind of afraid I'd just totally go blank when a parent comes and says his son's name! NOT COOL.
The comments helped alot to remind me of important pointers, but I didn't have any trouble remembering the kids, I know them only too well by now:)

Well except for the very confident mom who came in and sat down and with all the seriousness in the world looked at me and said "I'm mohammad's mom".
Never mind that I teach 4 classes, and no it's not important that I have like 10 Mohammad's, and is it her problem that I have absolutely no psychic powers??
You can't imagine the effort it took me to swallow back the sacrastic comment and leave it at a "You know, I do have more than one Mohammad".

Oh and I had fun trying to guess who's mom is that from facial resemblence. I got better with time (but didn't dare guess out loud- I tried it once and it wasn't pretty!)

When I got home I crashed from 5-8 p.m., yep I was that tired! But it felt good when I woke up:)

I wonder, is there such a thing as a vocal cord cramp? Yeah, cuz I'm preeetty sure I've got that!