Yes, I did turn him in

Silly me.

I believe in the whole school- home partnership thing.

And I believe in the whole "It takes a village to raise a child thing".

If you are in my neighborhood, you'd better believe that I'm keeping an eye out.

If you fall off your bike and scrape your knee, I'll be there to dry your tears and walk you home. And I'm thankful that I have neighbors that have done the same for me and my kids.

I'll be there to hand out Halloween candy and ooh and aaah over your costume. To buy your Girl Scout cookies and magazine subscriptions. And yes, I'm sorry, to send my kids to your house when they have to sell oranges or Entertainment books. (But no, I won't be offended if you don't buy)

And you know what? I'll also be the one who calls you when I see someone go into your garage when I know you're in Florida, just to be sure it's okay.

And yes, if I see your kids, our kids, my kids doing something shady in our neighborhood, I'll let you know.

Because we are that village.

So a few months ago, when my son had a friend sleep over; a man-boy that I have known since he first slept over at my house in kindergarten or first grade; and I suspected/ then discovered that someone had thrown up in my family room and covered it up; I told the other Mom that one of them got sick and I didn't know who, but that I suspected they had been drinking.

This happened IN MY HOUSE. When my husband and I were sleeping upstairs. With the door open! In a small house where I could hear them going to the kitchen for a glass of water. Where the "bar" is just 7 short steps down from my bedroom door. Where I checked on them in the middle of the night. Covered them up with blankets and sleeping bags.

I was shocked. And devastated. He was remorseful and apologetic. And sick. (served him right)

I thought it was a bad choice that he wouldn't repeat. Silly me.

So, when he came home on Wednesday and something didn't seem quite right, I questioned him.

And again.

And he "admitted" that he had been with some kids who smoked pot after school before the late bus. I told him that he was just as guilty even if didn't smoke. Because he was there!

I believed him. But I drug-tested him anyway. It was negative.

So I went to the school the next day because I thought they should know that there were opportunities for kids to do that on school grounds, while there were still students and faculty on the property.

I thought that was pretty brazen.

But I'm part of the village, right? I'd want to know if stuff was going on. So I went to them.

Anyway, they questioned my son. And the others that I thought might be involved (thought -because my son wouldn't tell me their names, but I know he texted them regularly).

To his credit, my son was honest with them and cooperated. Turns out he wasn't honest with me.
He was not only with them, but smoked. And provided the pot. Shocker! The others were honest too.

They're all suspended.

Really, I wasn't trying to get him suspended, but I'd do it again.

Yes, I turned him in and I. would. do. it. again.

I believe that the resources of the school can be helpful to us and to other families. I don't think they're helpful if they don't know what's going on.

And I certainly can't do this alone. I need help. We all do.

So, what would you have done?

Would you have "handled" it at home or gone to the school?

Flame away.

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Ps - Please forgive the horrendous punctuation errors. But there's not much I can do with a rambling, run on paragraph.