Sometimes you just have to get up close to flowers. Neighbours must think I am stark raving mad….

Sometimes you have those days. Days were you get up close to flowers and also end up pulling out what’s left of your hair.

School has been verbally told (many times) and been provided with extensive case notes for our son. Just in case school didn’t fancy reading War and Peace I helpfully provided a two page bullet point summary. Bullet Point 6 said

Can have poor judgement in relation to risk.

Bullet Point 7 adds

Has a diagnosis of Dyspraxia. Has very poor fine motor skills. Struggles to use pens. One to one Care and supervision needed when using sharp objects.

Under the section relating to specific school subjects

Design & Technology. One to one supervision required when using cutting tools, drilling tools and impact tools.

Additionally school has been given a verbal and written update on his current broken hand. Although the bone has heeled he is undertaking physio to try and get his hand working properly again. So he in effect still just using his weaker left hand.

Today was his first Design and Technology lesson. So it was also a fingers crossed type day. Funnily enough it was also a plaster type day……

He came back home. His thumb and two fingers covered in large plasters.

“Dad I had a bit of an accident. I was trying to saw using my left hand. The teacher shouted out an instruction to the class. I got distracted and I started sawing my hand rather than the wood…”

Apparently he wasn’t given any one on one supervision. He was allowed to use a normal saw with his wrong hand, with no additional safety measures in place. – Maybe I’m just being an over protective parent. It’s a natural thing to do.

“Dad funny thing is the lesson was about safety in the workplace. Guess I’ve already failed…”

So that’s something else we will be discussing at his school review meeting on Friday. Could be a long meeting because it’s one sizeable issues list….

But let’s try to finish on a brighter note. We sat on the grass next to the daffodil patch with ice lollies in hand.

“Dad up close Daffodils take on a completely different perspective. If your a bug looking up at those yellow giants, it must be terrifying. Do you think HG Wells got his idea for the mechanical Martians from Daffodils”

As I pondered that the mad dog ran up and before we could stop him, he cocked his leg on the Daffodils. Poor bugs scared to death by Yellow Martian Giants and now doused in Acid Rain. I wonder if an overprotective parent bug may have just added an item to a miniature and a tad damp issue lists. We can wonder.

64 thoughts on “Martians just made the list…”

    1. Part of the problem will be lack of funding and lack of staffing, as well as the school’s lack of interest and will to help. It would be interesting to get them to own up to that, but I don’t like your chances.

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  6. It is rare, as you know, that this happens, but … Words Fail Me! The utter idiocy of the school to turn your son loose with a saw … speechless, I am. Sigh. Kiss his boo-boo for me. Hugs to you both.

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      1. I think that EVERY kid, whether they can use only one hand or both, should have close supervision handling sharp objects, but especially one who has the use of only one hand and other problems as well. It isn’t as if the school doesn’t know of his problems. Sheesh … what next?

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  7. Acid rain. Lol!

    Heartbreaking story but really not surprising. Interesting how I’m a continent away and yet could tell similar stories about school, special needs kids and all the rest of it.

    Might be noteworthy that back in my childhood in Switzerland, in the 70s, after my illness left me with a hearing loss, the only request my mom had of the teacher was to ensure she faced me when talking. I.e. I needed to sit near the front. There were so many issues with this relatively simple consideration it was rather mind boggling. It had to do with the teacher not wanting to be told to consciously consider the needs of an 7yo child which was about as straight forward as it can be. Most of the time teachers make eye contact with the children anyway, no? But she made such a fuss that she couldn’t possibly be asked to remember always making sure her face was toward me, it was kind of ridiculous. 🙄

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  8. I’m doing my best not to put that down to pure, malicious evil and give them the benefit of what small doubt exists and say it’s just pathetically under-funded apathy, bordering on dereliction of duty of care (you might like to subtly hint at a potential law suit on Friday – see if that gets their attention??)

    Once again your ability to write about an issue with whimsy and humour when you are no doubt fuming inside, impresses me greatly Sir. Your boy made a good choice of dads. 🙂

    I’m quite fortunate… i just have days when i get up close to flowers (and usually take pictures) – which is lucky ‘cos there’s not all that much hair left to pull. 🙂

    Do try to keep calm and not stress out (= go ballistic) on Friday, won’t you?

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      1. Don’t forget to take the car this time is all!! 😉

        ( You can sleep on Saturday so you’re nice and refreshed for the bake-off! – and it was LAST Friday.) 😉

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  9. I would lose my mind, I think, if I had to deal with what you go through. That is just infuriating. And of course, he was the one to tell you and not the school? That’s not right either. I am sorry about your son’s hand. I hope it heals well, and soon. And I love how you ended the post….acid rain 🙂

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      1. Oh no, not me – I am in a bit of a conundrum myself right now just not with the school. I don’t stand up to others well and accept too much even when I don’t think it is right. I think your school is really tough too. They don’t listen – at all! Yes, poor bugs 🙂

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  10. Pingback: Martians just made the list… – A Dad trying to cope with the loss of his Partner and becoming a single parent. – International Badass Activists

  11. That’s the damage a hand saw can do! Can you imagine when we walked into the hallway and found that after my Dad had had a mishap with a power tool there he was passed out on the floor with blood all over the walls? Terrifying! Yet he was fine. We had to take him to hospital…but they stitched him up and bandaged his hand – he was still back at work window-cleaning the next day…but he had to jeep his bandaging dry – which was annoying for him.

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      1. My Dadda used to take us window-cleaning during the school holidays. On one occasion he nipped into WHSmiths and bought a pencil sharpener because we had brought our colouring books and pencils with us in case we were bored/tired and wanted to sit down and colour in. My sister Mandy grabbed the pencil sharpener and stuck her finger inside it and turned. It took such a deep slice into her finger there was rather gory scene to confront my Dad with when we went to find him and Mandy in tears. Poor Dad had to pack up his gear and take us three off to the nearby hospital so they could stitch her finger up.

        I finish work tonight at 8pm and will be back at my little abode around half past. I need to send you and Jeanne an e-mail.

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      5. lol!

        My Dad had six daughters (and one son) – which kept him on his toes! He could never get a word in edgeways when we were all together. Between us…what with falling out of trees, flying off our bikes, running into the road to retrieve the ball without realizing there was a car…I think we kept the NHS pretty busy for most of the eighties and nineties.

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  15. That sounds nasty. The question that comes to my mind is: If the school has been explicitly informed of a safety issue and still ignore it, surely that counts as negligence?

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  18. I’m so sorry he sawed his hand!! You two seem to have a cheerier aspect about it than I would.

    And I like your reflection on how the bug parents must feel about the dog martian’s waterfall attack.

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  21. YOUR SCHOOLS HAVE POWER TOOLS?!?!?!?! Jeez, I don’t think any of the elementary schools have any sort of shop courses. Dude, I am with you. I’d be aaaaaaaaaall over those teachers on this. Seriously, that’s a lawsuit situation on this side of the Atlantic.
    At least the daffodils are pretty. Pee-covered, but pretty. 🙂 xxxxxxxxx

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