Viva La Volunteerism. Sort of.

I….. am……. <wait for it> …..volunteering at Rockstar’s school.

<Confused Silence>

Um, ta-daaaaaaaaaa….?

<Shudder>

I know nuthin’ about kids. Sort of. Though…. wait, Rockstar’s a kid. Ok, I’m arguably the resident Rockstar expert. (Feel bit better about myself)

Honestly, misbehaving kids scare the bejeezers out of me. Especially when they don’t belong to me. What if I tell em off and they run to their mother:

“Mommy, mommy, there was a crazy lady in school and she bitch-slapped me”

“Mommy, mommy, there was a crazy lady in school who was – who was – sniffing somethhing on a shiny surface.”

“And- and- and she borrowed the Little Mermaid haircomb Grandma gave me before she died and – and never gave it back!” <heart-wrenching sobs>

“And- and then she fed me sugar!”

But… here’s the thing. Rockstar is possibly the Absolute Youngest child in his year. And even if he wasn’t, he is erm, “vertically” challenged (I will look for another word once he figures out what vertical means) – at a glance, Rockstar stands a good half a head shorter than the vast majority of other kids in his year.

Add to that his personality – he lets everyone else go first, he gives things away, and if people are pushy or take things away from him too much, he decides he doesn’t want to sing/ read/ whatever in school ever. It’s happened before.

So yours truly figured she could either badger the teachers and staff no end to constantly look out for Rockstar (with no real indication this works) or she could roll up her sleeves and help around in school and hopefully being an occasional, (hopefully) discreet presence in the background would help keep any potential bullying by much bigger kids at bay.

Also, especially in Hong Kong, where it’s not uncommon to find parents keeping excel spreadsheets of their kids’ test scores and toddlers attending school admission interviews (for which “interview tuition/ coaching” is also available), she no Alpha Mum.

But she still wants to give her best shot at raising Rockstar.

More parenting suggestions welcome…