Little Todd or Shayla is a hopelessly spoiled brat!

Remember the "Sex and the City" episode where they went to the baby shower in Connecticut? At some point in the party (which, if I recall correctly, was rather depressing for all four of them for varying reasons), a young mother says something or other which demonstrates that she's extremely obsequious to her very young son. As soon as the mother is out of earshot, one of the regulars (Miranda, I think) says, "And when that boy grows up, how many women will be able to live up to his image of Mommy? I'm thinking none!"

I'm thinking that unfortunate principle applies to teachers as well as girlfriends.

Peter is the troublemaker in my kindy class. Well, there are several troublemakers, but Peter is the worst. He never pays attention or tries to learn anything, rarely stays in his seat for more than two minutes at a time, and usually just laughs at attempts to discipline him unless my co-teacher or I come down really hard on him.

I've known from early on that his parents have a fair amount to do with that. I've met his mother on a number of occasions and, although I can't communicate directly with her because she doesn't speak English, I've been able to gather pretty clearly that she rarely disciplines him for much of anything. Once I even saw her yell at another kid for taking one of Peter's toys, but to be fair, that other kid was also something of a troublemaker and may well have deserved it. Even before I started this job, I knew that some parents are on a strictly see no evil, hear no evil basis with their kids, and I've known all along that she was one of those.

But I got a new dose of her this week that gave me a new appreciation for why Peter is such a little terror.

I have a few rules in my classroom when it comes to lunch. One of those is that all the kids have to eat some vegetables. We get rice, meat, fruit for dessert, a side dish of some shape or form - usually something tofu based - and vegetables. I don't force the kids to eat any of the other things if they don't want any, but I do make them eat at least a few veggies. Well, this week, I noticed that when Peter got to the head of the line, my co-teacher didn't make him take any vegetables even though she always backs me up on that rule with the other kids. I, of course, asked why. Now, my co-teacher only speaks a little English, but she had no difficulty explaining this one to me. Peter's mother has sent down orders that if he doesn't want to eat any vegetables, we are not to try to make him eat any.

Kind of hard to know how to respond to that one, isn't it? I really hope little Peter finds some kind of moderating influence on his life somewhere down the road, but I ain't holding my breath!

There is, however, the occasional sign of hope. Today, Peter did take a few vegetables with his lunch, although I suspect that was only because he knew I was particularly furious with him for fooling around on stage during a rehearsal for the graduation play. Hey, it's a start. He's also quite good at art projects; the few times I've ever seen him stay in his seat for any amount of time were all when he was working on a drawing or painting of some sort. Maybe he'll grow up to be a tortured artist and produce a masterpiece or two on the futility of childhood. You never can tell!

Any mistakes in the recounted plot and dialogue above are owing to the fact that my SATC DVDs are currently in my parents' basement halfway around the world. Thanks for understanding!