Black is white.

Today was rather stressful with Growlie. At one point I had to get up and walk out of the room. (Well, I had to pee, too. But I was also up to my eyeballs in frustration.) He’s like, Mr Negativity. And I realize that part of it is just oppositional behaviour. But holy begeesus. The kid’ll argue that a white shirt is blue even if 25 people are saying it is is white. He’ll argue undeniable facts.

It’s one thing to argue about feelings or responses or actions or hypotheticals. But seriously. They had to name 3 mammals that lived in the water. Growlie said Frogs.
They aren’t mammals I say.
But they live in the water, he replies.
Yes, but they’re amphibians. They can live on land and in the water.
Yeah but all of the frogs I’ve ever seen live just in the water.
ok. But they’re still not mammals.
But they still live in the water. The paper doesn’t say it has to be a mammal.
Yes. It actually DOES say it needs to be a mammal.
Well, the teacher didn’t say we had to put mammals. *starts writing down “frog”*
[Growlie,] the teacher said to follow the directions. Which means doing what the paper says. Which means listing mammals.
I can’t think of any.
Whales. Otters. Polar bears. Penguins. Dolphins.
(And yes, it occurs to me that perhaps penguins and dolphins aren’t mammals. I think dolphins are. But I forget. And penguins are birds but I forget if birds are mammals. It’s amazing what one forgets in a few decades….) Well. I don’t LIKE any of those animals.
I don’t care if you like them or not. You need to pick 3 and write them down. *Growlie proceeds to growl at me. Scowl. Throw down his pencil. Ok. So. It looks to me like you’re refusing to do your work. Do you understand that refusing to do your work earns you a zero on your point sheet?
*more growling* I’m NOT refusing. I’m CONFUSED.
Ok. What are you confused about?
I don’t know what to put down.
You need to put down three mammals. I just gave you a list. or you can use any of the ones your classmates came up with. *Growlie continues to not write anything down. Plays with pencil. Flicks sheet across the table.* Ok. I guess that’s a zero then….
*growls* I’m THINKING. I can’t THINK of any animals.
I just listed a whole bunch.
I don’t know of any to put down.
You can put any of the ones that anyone has mentioned in the last 15 minutes. Whales, otters, polar bears, dolphins, penguins. You have until the red hand gets to the 12. (20 seconds)
*Growlie picks up pencil, looks at clock. Stares at worksheet* *begins to write a zero on his point sheet*
*growls* WHAT? I’m THINKING. Now I have another zero and it’s ALL YOUR FAULT! Just because I can’t think of any animals to put down. That’s NOT FAIR.

that’s pretty much how our day goes. Even with things like math. He’ll argue til he’s blue in the face if I let him. I’ll give him the answer and he won’t write it down and we go thru the same exact conversation. “I’m THINKING!” Even after the “I GAVE YOU THE ANSWER. All you have to do is WRITE IT DOWN” he still won’t. And then get angry and growl at me when he gets another zero.

Thankfully he does the same thing with the teacher, so it’s not just a personal thing. I mean, I knew it wasn’t. But. I still…ya know…wondered, doubted, whatever. It’s hard to not take it personally at first.

All of the kids were hyper today, that was another part of it. They were all on my nerves! But. I still leave feeling ok about my job, so that’s good. I don’t dread going in. Cuz some days he barely gets one zero. Other days….not so much. heh.

Oi. After work I went to Jenn’s to help with the Daisy/Brownie troop she’s started. Oi. 20 hyper little girls. It was a nice balance to the 6 hyper boys I was with all day. heh.

Exhausted now, tho. Sleep time. If I don’t melt in to a puddle first.