I got a call from my son at about 2:40 today. He told me that he got into a fight at school, threw a pencil at another kid. to make matters worse, the school called the STBX so she would pick him up from school.

As I talked to The Boy, and the STBX later, I would learn that he was “sword fighting w/ pencils” with one student. Later on, he threw a pencil at the second student.

Not to minimize his indiscretions, but when one gets a call from their child saying that they got into 2 fights at school, one naturally thinks of fist-fighting. I called the STBX after talking to my son. Initially, we both thought the school was blowing things out of proportion. Sis (who taught kindergarten last year) informed me that in kindergarten, the teachers have to instill in the kids that school supplies are not toys and should be used accordingly. As she explained this to me, it made sense. After all, they are learning how to act and not to act in school.

From what the STBX said, this is not the first time he has been in trouble at school. Before, she (STBX) had chalked it off to him being bored. Even if that is the case, it is still inappropriate behavior, and we both told him as much today. However we would both be naive to think that this wasn’t somehow related to our separation – and even the my ex-father-in-law moving into the house for that matter.

It’s times like this that I wish I was still there. Not in the house, just nearby.