Dear So and So

[Veronica]

Dear Coworker;

Do you really think you have been "given" a "bad" group of kids for the last four years? Seriously, I am tired of hearing that I have all "the kids who care", "all the supportive parents", "all the kids who can think". And that it's been this way for four years now.

Maybe it's not the kids. Whenever I tell you about something cool going on in my class, you say, "Oh, my kids couldn't do that." Have you tried? Yeah, we talked about Pythogorean Theorem in class the other day. Most of the kids didn't get the formula, but they loved seeing it work when they drew out right angles with sides of 3 and 4 and 6 and 8. So what if it's a 7th grade standard. It's your job to teach them to think. That means pushing them out of their comfort zone.

When we meet to divide out classes for next year, you better voice your concerns. You're the one who thinks things have been done unfairly in the past. Although I took two of your "bad" kids from last year and have turned them around and you have repeatedly said some of my students would drive you batty!

Veronica

[Crankin]

Oy.
I hear my own voice from year's past.

[indysteel]

Dear in-laws, when you call and no one answers, please just leave a message and your son when call back at his earliest convenience. Do not keep calling back at half hour intervals. The fact that you leave a message that merely states you will be calling back in a half hour is annoying. It's even more annoying that you leave a message stating the same thing with each call. I know you may find this difficult to hear, but he/we sometimes have other things to do than chat on the phone with you. You two need a hobby.

[limewave]

Dear in-laws, when you call and no one answers, please just leave a message and your son when call back at his earliest convenience. Do not keep calling back at half hour intervals. The fact that you leave a message that merely states you will be calling back in a half hour is annoying. It's even more annoying that you leave a message stating the same thing with each call. I know you may find this difficult to hear, but he/we sometimes have other things to do than chat on the phone with you. You two need a hobby.

That is annoying . . . along the same lines:

Dear Inlaws,
Do you really have to call every day the second DH walks through the door? You guys work together all day long, can't the work take a break for 60 minutes so DH can have a chance to see his kids for a few minutes before they go to bed? I know its difficult to believe, but "the business" will not fall apart if you wait an hour to call. Sheesh.

Dear DH,
Is it that hard to tell your dad you'll call him back after the kids are in bed? That's all I'm asking. The kids are only conscious for a handful of minutes by the time you get home (if you even get home before their bedtime). Can't you spend that precious time with them? It's really not that much to ask and it means the world to them.

~Limewave

[lph]

Dear DH,
Is it that hard to tell your dad you'll call him back after the kids are in bed? That's all I'm asking.

Oh, that sounds familiar... My always-helpful, always-polite dh is forever coming home late even if we've arranged a set time "because he met x in the door" or "got a phone call as he was leaving". I have never understood why it is so hard to just say "Sorry! I was just leaving. Can it wait until tomorrow?"

*sigh*

But then, I'm the cranky one who won't even pick up the phone if I don't feel like talking. Send me a message, that's why mobile phones were invented.

[indysteel]

But then, I'm the cranky one who won't even pick up the phone if I don't feel like talking. Send me a message, that's why mobile phones were invented.

In the last couple of years, I've gotten really hostile when it comes to talking on the phone. I used to sort of enjoy it on some level when I was single, but now I just see it as intrusive. I rarely call anybody and I rarely get calls myself. So, when the phone rings, I know it's likely my inlaws. Not that I begrudge them talking to their son, but they're just so dogged about it.

[lph]

It IS intrusive! When the phone rings, for some reason you're expected to drop anything else you might be doing, stop talking to whoever you're already talking to - who might even have taken the trouble to actually come over and visit in person, turn off any music you might be listening to or movie you might be watching, hop to it and take the phone, to talk to whoever fancied chatting with you right now, because they're bored in a car or something.

Heh, no wonder no-one ever calls me.