Everyone has different styles, and you want to think you have it figured out.  At the same time different children respond to different methods. 

The underlying theme to mine is “natural consequences”.  My kids would come home and complain about the teacher and I would say you have to figure it out.  You aren’t always going to like bosses you end up with.  It’s a lesson on how to get along with others.  

I have used this same technique on each kid along the way and for the most part it works.  Until this year.  

I was getting reports of failing grades and said to my child “if you don’t get those grades up you won’t be able to play sports”.  Well nothing happened after failing the first quarter.   

Finally in January after failing two class for the entire fall semester “we received the natural consequence of Academic Probabtion.  

I thought natural consequences. That’s fine, that will be a good lesson. 

I searched high and low for a tutor.  Finally found one that connected with my child.  Grades went way up to finish out the year strong.

Ended one class for the year with a 69.?? and they wouldn’t consider that passing.  What? Apparently working hard and showing you care isn’t enough these days. 

It all falls back on me, I am told you should have taken the child out of sports yourself.

So much for natural consequences.  

Hard to ever feel like a good mother when it seems the blame always falls back on me.  I seriously thought the systems we had in place were working to help my child and provide natural consequences if they didn’t perform as they should.