Barb Jernigan wrote:
 
> hey, I don't want him coming home bloodied up (the emotional bruising is
> bad enough)
> and these days you don't know if the BULLY might be armed or how
> dangerous.....

Yeah--that's what makes me really scared.
 
> > > yes, well, people have the notion that, giving the proper
> > indoctrination,
> > > we CAN be nice.
> >
> > Adults can. Kids can, too; just rarely to each other.
> 
> Well, there's a certain jostling re: pecking order that's different among
> kids
> We adults have learned subtlety -- or just gotten very good at what we've
> practiced....

Most of us, at least.
 
> Part of Reid's problem is, hanging around adults, he doesn't have to
> jockey for a place in the Order. I'm sure he's sending bizarre signals to
> the other kids -- a> being from another state (there's REALLY a
> difference; b> not being used to other kids particularly; c>being the
> lone cub he is, in a tradition of lone cubs....

Oooh... does that sound familiar.
 
> sometimes I wonder if what I see is only what I imagine.....

No, not at all; just most people don't talk about it.  Which is,
itself, part of the problem.
 
> it's in another message in this packet.
> You STILL need $2.50 to get yourself a latte....

Yes; but lattes rarely make so much good sense. :)
 
> > You have, but it's still cool. Hey, if I can make it down this
> > summer, may I have a demonstration?
> 
> for sure!

Cool! That's something I've thought about getting into, but I'm
not sure, with my weight, whether it would be a Good Idea (tm).
 
> Much as I grumble, I DO see "progress" ... I just want
paradise NOW! [Not
> that I'd be able to sit on the furniture.]

It's better than it was, certainly. The problem with those of us
who put up with it years ago, is that we *all* want paradise NOW,
and there's no such thing as "good enough" until that's achieved.
 
> I've requested that the school Counsellors help him somewhat; though
> suspect that's fallen through the cracks while his regular teacher was
> out. Will pick up the thread in the new year.

Good idea; things do get Lost in the Shuffle, hard as we try.
 
> retreated into books, schoolwork, and a rather too able imagination to
> survive those times, tygress

Lissa Yep,ThatSoundsLikeMe,Too Wingling

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