Stand for something, or you'll fall for anything.

For those of you that don't know our story, our family was blessed with two boys. John and I didn't think after 10 years of marriage that we would become parents. After many years of praying, and wonderful doctors, we welcomed two strong healthy boys into our family.

Perhaps, because of the struggles we went through to become parents, or the challenges we faced in our own childhood- but we have set the bar very high when it comes to being the best parents for our children.

We try to give a lot of thought to each and every environment that our boys are put in. We have lots of rules about what they watch on tv, and the the things that they are exposed to as far as video games or toys.

Imagine then, how surprised I was when Zach's teacher informed me that he had told another child that "He was going to bring a gun and kill her." I did my best to let him know why we couldn't say those things to another person. I tried to explain that under no circumstance was it okay to say these type of threats, and it would get him into more trouble than he had ever been in before. He was grounded for two days, and I made him write sentences about speaking kind words to others.

John and I were baffled as to where he heard this. We don't even let him watch the news, for pete's sake!

However, when he made another threat to a student regarding cutting her head off- the teacher had her fill- so he was sent to the office. Then the assistant principal called to let me know that Zach had been in more trouble, and he was being suspended for two days.

It's been a long weekend, needless to say. Zach spent the time he would have been in school writing sentences, cleaning his room, and washing baseboards. I tried my best to make his time less than fun- but he kept saying it was "The Best Day EVER!"

John and I have spent quite a few hours assessing this situation. We are going to make some changes that we are hoping will benefit Zach's school experience. For some reason, Zach either withdrawals or becomes aggressive. This is not the child we know and love, and for some reason, our son is being put in a 'fight or flight' mode when he is supposed to be getting an education.

I am scheduled to meet with the teacher this afternoon. I plan to let them know that while I am willing to take responsibility for some of Zach's behavioral issues... I also expect them to stop 'washing their hands' of what he hears on the playground. I expect them to take some blame for the fact that his only behavioral issues are while attending school.

I might expect this, but I know it won't happen. I am learning, very quickly, what I expect from Zach's FIRST grade experience is very different from the reality of it.

However, just like the challenge we faced to become parents... we are going to face this challenge together as a family. And, when Zach writes his memoirs, I hope he credit's his first grade teacher as the first person who challenged him to be better.