Tough love

The young mother who loves to go out clubbing on Ladies' Night did not go out last night.  She was on time and worked hard all morning.  She made her initial call to register for the GED exam, but is going to hold off a few weeks to pull up her math score.  She asked if she had to quit once she took the exam.  I told her most students stopped coming, but she did not have to leave us.  She recognizes that our program is also a great place for her children and that they love coming to class.  This pleases me immensely.  Our program is not a GED class with daycare; it really is a family program with great opportunities for the children as well as the parents.

The last few days all students have been accounted for.  Either they are in class or they have called with excuses although a few students have had sick children for quite a while!  Do I make liars out of them by requiring excuses?  One of those students with sick children did not call for two days because she had no minutes left on her phone.  I happen to know from others that her father has just gone to jail and her brother is on trial this week.  I have offered students a "leave of absence" if personal problems get too much for them, but she may not want to talk about all of that yet.  At least I don't think she is angry at me because last Thursday  I asked her to show a little less cleavage in her school dress.

Now, a request for any readers--please leave a comment here and there.  I really have enjoyed this process of blogging but I would enjoy it even more with your feedback!