Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Keep it Moving

Jamal and I have been maintaining for the past few weeks mostly in the form of phone calls with the occaisional drop in. We even managed to squeeze in a trip to the bowling alley a couple of weeks back when there was a snow day that coincided with one of my days off.
Always eager to assess his progress, I've been pressuring his grandmother to get his second quarter report card which has been available for 8 weeks at this point. I could go up to the school and get it myself once again, but I feel like it's really not my job at this point. I need to help her become more involved in his academic development. She seems to knows that generally, it's a good thing to get good grades, but has showed little understanding of how important it is to monitor the grades on his report card instead of random graded papers that trickle into the house (which she says are improving lately). Is it harsh to think that she's woefully negligent for not having mastered the art of holding a child accountable for schoolwork after 8+ children and a few grandchildren? I don't think so. But I suppose if she had been successful with this thus far, Jamal may not have ever come to my attention.
Anyway, my 3 month surgery rotation ends this week, so there should be an opportunity for Jamal and I to share another outing. I'd like to get him out and moving since he uses his asthma as an excuse for him to do no physical activity whatsoever. Of course, he has no idea where his inhaler is, and has never experienced an emergency so I'm skeptical. But lucky for him, the emergency room just happens to be right next to the campus gym.

No comments: