Life In the Carpool Lane

I don't know what's worse: getting stuck in rush hour traffic in Los Angeles or enduring the carpool lane at P's school. I don't know what's better: seeing the happenings of a classroom from a parent's point of view or the teacher's. After waiting 45 minutes in the carpool lane each day (yes, you that read that correctly), I anxiously await for P to get settled in so he can tell me all about his day at school. He almost always starts with his teacher's mood and what color face he ended his day on (his class's behavior chart). Then he goes on to tell me who he played with or a fun activity that he enjoyed. Inevitably his happenings include someone making fun of him. This has been going on for awhile, even before he started Kinder. Sometimes I believe him and other times, like today, I don't. I looked in the rearview mirror, watching how hard he had to work to come up with the names the kids allegedly called him. I questioned his story but he stuck by it. I don't know the kids he's talking about and that's the hard part. But I do know my son and can tell when he isn't being 100% truthful. I let him reiterate his "tattle" and gave him one last chance to tell the truth. Sadly, he didn't. So I stepped it up a notch and informed him that our parish believes in corporal punishment at school (If the parents sign a permission slip at the beginning of the year). I told him that if these kids were picking on him then they'd get sent to the principal's office and would get spanked. I walked a fine line in telling him this because I do NOT want him to fear the principal. I want him to have a healthy respect for him. I watched his reaction in the rearview mirror and could tell he was taking it all in. After a few moments of silence he informed me that he had indeed made up the story. The conversation continued from there and it made me realize how hard it is to see his school day from the carpool lane so to speak. I don't have a bond with any of the kids in his class. I do not know his daily routine. I do not know what he learns every day or his teacher's style of teaching. I do not know what makes his teacher tick and what it means when he tells me she "yelled all day". It makes me realize that being the parent is hard because you have to take what your child tells you about his/her day with a grain of salt. It's a change and one I may take awhile to adjust to, especially in the carpool lane.