So about a week ago I noticed that Mr. C's hair was starting to grow and needed to be cut. I told him we were going to cut it that night but once I got done styling Miss C's hair, I was too tired to drag out the clippers so we decided to wait til the next day. I wasn't feeling good for the next 2 days, so it didn't end up happening then either. Anyway, Thursday night rolls around and Mr. C's hair has yet to be cut. I turned to him and said "Mr. C we haven't cut your hair yet and it's just about bed time! How about tomorrow night?"
Now usually Mr. C is the one who puts off hair cutting, but this time I could tell he actually wanted it to be cut. He let out a loud sigh and threw himself back into the couch. I asked him "What's the matter- did you want it cut tonight?" Mr. C nodded his head and said "Yeah.... My teacher was making fun of me about my hair all day today!"
At this point I wanted to cry and scream at once. I tried to stay calm though, and I asked "Is that true?"
Mr. C's voice sounded sincere, and his face looked serious.
He said "Yes! He really did make fun of me! He kept telling me 'You're rough!' .. 'You're the rough boy!' .. 'Ooooh- you need a hair cut!' .. And he kept coming to my desk to rub my hair when he said that to me!"
I wasn't sure what to think. I was sad because I knew that hurt Mr. C's feelings and his self esteem was probably knocked down.
I was mad at myself for not cutting his hair sooner, and even more mad at his teacher for pointing it out in front of the class like that and picking on my son!
I always take anything said about my kids very personally and sometimes I take things the wrong way-once I even yelled at someone for saying my kids were precious! : / I guess I just found the remark sarcastic....? Anyway, I'm overly protective so I try to keep that in mind when it comes to comments and actions that have to do with either of my children.
I got to thinking about it (it didn't take me long) and I decided that no matter how Mr. C's teacher meant for his comments to come out, my son took offense to them and he had no right to say anything about his appearence- joking or not!
So I told Mr. C to go get the clippers and I gave him the best haircut I could possibly give him. Then I decided to write his teacher a little letter! Here's what it said....
Mr. "Teacher",
If you would like to call someone names, I'd be more than happy to come to the school so you could call me names.
Mr. C gets his hair cut when I feel like doing it. He has no control over this, as he is a little boy, and does not need your comments knocking down his self esteem.
Thank- You!
That's nothing compared to what I wanted to say, but I try to teach my kids to stay classy. After all, I have to be able to show my face in his school agian right?!
Anyway, what do you think of my letter? What would you have done/said differently?
I can't call this a racism thing because Mr. C's teacher and all but 3 kids in his class are African American.... although there are some people who are racist against biracial people too!
I told Mr. C (not trying to sound racist myself) "I know there has to be at least one other kid in your class with worse hair than yours! .... And your hair is NOT that bad!" That's when he told me there was another boy in his class with hair longer than his, and it was messy. So it really doesn't make much sence to me!
Now usually Mr. C is the one who puts off hair cutting, but this time I could tell he actually wanted it to be cut. He let out a loud sigh and threw himself back into the couch. I asked him "What's the matter- did you want it cut tonight?" Mr. C nodded his head and said "Yeah.... My teacher was making fun of me about my hair all day today!"
At this point I wanted to cry and scream at once. I tried to stay calm though, and I asked "Is that true?"
Mr. C's voice sounded sincere, and his face looked serious.
He said "Yes! He really did make fun of me! He kept telling me 'You're rough!' .. 'You're the rough boy!' .. 'Ooooh- you need a hair cut!' .. And he kept coming to my desk to rub my hair when he said that to me!"
I wasn't sure what to think. I was sad because I knew that hurt Mr. C's feelings and his self esteem was probably knocked down.
I was mad at myself for not cutting his hair sooner, and even more mad at his teacher for pointing it out in front of the class like that and picking on my son!
I always take anything said about my kids very personally and sometimes I take things the wrong way-once I even yelled at someone for saying my kids were precious! : / I guess I just found the remark sarcastic....? Anyway, I'm overly protective so I try to keep that in mind when it comes to comments and actions that have to do with either of my children.
I got to thinking about it (it didn't take me long) and I decided that no matter how Mr. C's teacher meant for his comments to come out, my son took offense to them and he had no right to say anything about his appearence- joking or not!
So I told Mr. C to go get the clippers and I gave him the best haircut I could possibly give him. Then I decided to write his teacher a little letter! Here's what it said....
Mr. "Teacher",
If you would like to call someone names, I'd be more than happy to come to the school so you could call me names.
Mr. C gets his hair cut when I feel like doing it. He has no control over this, as he is a little boy, and does not need your comments knocking down his self esteem.
Thank- You!
That's nothing compared to what I wanted to say, but I try to teach my kids to stay classy. After all, I have to be able to show my face in his school agian right?!
Anyway, what do you think of my letter? What would you have done/said differently?
I can't call this a racism thing because Mr. C's teacher and all but 3 kids in his class are African American.... although there are some people who are racist against biracial people too!
I told Mr. C (not trying to sound racist myself) "I know there has to be at least one other kid in your class with worse hair than yours! .... And your hair is NOT that bad!" That's when he told me there was another boy in his class with hair longer than his, and it was messy. So it really doesn't make much sence to me!
First of all, I'm sorry this happened to Mr. C. What a shame. this teacher could've been a role model for him, and instead chose to belittle him. Shame on him.
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