notactuallyme
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2011
- Messages
- 8
I'm another DISer under cover... This is long, I appreciate your patience.
A little background. We moved from the city to the burbs in June. My husband's contract with his job wasn't up until September, but we wanted my oldest (9) settled in before school started. He continued to commute during the summer. Because of the length of the commute, he often stayed at our apartment during the week. We moved to a nice small town neighborhood. One of the main reasons we chose this community was because of the excellent public school system.
My son pretty much immediately made a friend, a boy the same age who was to be in his class, who lives a few doors down. The boys hit it off great. I'll call him Billy. Billy and his mom came over many days. Mom and I hung around our pool while the boys swam. We chatted and talked. Mom (I'll call her Mary) is very involved in a fundamentalist christian church, and would often ask my son and I to attend events with them. At 1st I made excuses, telling her that since my husband was home so infrequently we liked to spend family time together. She understood, but continued to ask, so I finally just told her we are not religious people. (we are not) Because of his schedule Mary only ever saw my husband in passing. He would come home late Friday and leave late Sunday
A little more background.... My husband is Lebanese and Muslim. While I never announced "my husband is Muslim," I always referred to him by his 1st name (Mohammed) and have talked about my mother in law in Lebanon.
Any way... school started the day after Labor Day, my son loves his school and his teacher. On 9/9 Mary calls and and tells me that she and her husband are supposed to go to a wedding on 9/10 and could we please watch Billy because her sitter cancelled at the last minute. I told her no problem, why not make it a sleep over, so they didn't have to worry about rushing home. She was very thankful. Lo and behold, at the sleepover Billy wakes up in the middle of the night with a fever and sore throat. I gave him a dose of tylenol and sent him back to bed. He was up early ( a little after 7) and still didn't feel well. I called Mary at 7:30 and told her Billy wasn't feeling well and that I would walk him home. She told me not to bother that her husband would come get him. I was dealing with my younger son at the time, and my husband answered the door. Mary's husband (I'll call him Bob) and my husband chatted for a bit, Bob saying that he was up and dressed any way because he was meeting friends for an early round of golf. Monday morning (9/12) after the boys go to school, I walk down to Mary's with my younger son to drop off a video game her son left at our house. Mary was very cold and hostile towards me. I asked her if something was wrong and she goes on a tirade about how I should have told her we were not a christian family and that how she never would have allowed her son to become so "ingrained" with a "non believing" family, and that she would never allow her son to associate with people who support terrorism, especially on 9/11!
I was stunned, and I left. Now, mind you, I never said "My husband is Muslim," and maybe this woman is no Rhodes scholar, but I have never met a non Muslim man who was named Mohammed. Not to mention our last name isn't exactly Smith or Jones. The mother in law in Lebanon should have been a clue, too. .... but I digress....
My son comes home from school that day saying he wants to go to another school. He said none of the kids will play with him, and that they are all saying that his father is a terrorist! I immediately call the teacher, set up a meeting for the next morning before school. We meet with the teacher, explain the story, she is VERY apologetic. Apparently during the day she gave a little lesson on 9/11 and stereotyping, and sent a letter home to the other parents about the issue. Bob came over that evening and brought Billy and made him apologize. Bob then went on to explain that Mary had recently become involved with this church through a friend and that he did not agree with many of it's teachings and that he was sorry for the trouble he had started, because it was he who had pointed out that Mohammed was Muslim. He said that after he had picked up Billy she asked him if he had invited us to her church's 911 memorial service and he explained to her that we may not feel comfortable, and why.
Soo.... my son says some kids are no longer shunning him, but many still are. Although they don't call names outright, they don't include him. I am upset because my son was always such a good student and loved school, now he doesn't even want to go. He is asking if he can go to a different school. We can afford private school, but the only one we would consider is a 45 minute drive away, and we would be responsible for the transportation. I have talked to the school, they can monitor teasing and bullying, but they can't make children play together at recess and lunch... *sigh*
A little background. We moved from the city to the burbs in June. My husband's contract with his job wasn't up until September, but we wanted my oldest (9) settled in before school started. He continued to commute during the summer. Because of the length of the commute, he often stayed at our apartment during the week. We moved to a nice small town neighborhood. One of the main reasons we chose this community was because of the excellent public school system.
My son pretty much immediately made a friend, a boy the same age who was to be in his class, who lives a few doors down. The boys hit it off great. I'll call him Billy. Billy and his mom came over many days. Mom and I hung around our pool while the boys swam. We chatted and talked. Mom (I'll call her Mary) is very involved in a fundamentalist christian church, and would often ask my son and I to attend events with them. At 1st I made excuses, telling her that since my husband was home so infrequently we liked to spend family time together. She understood, but continued to ask, so I finally just told her we are not religious people. (we are not) Because of his schedule Mary only ever saw my husband in passing. He would come home late Friday and leave late Sunday
A little more background.... My husband is Lebanese and Muslim. While I never announced "my husband is Muslim," I always referred to him by his 1st name (Mohammed) and have talked about my mother in law in Lebanon.
Any way... school started the day after Labor Day, my son loves his school and his teacher. On 9/9 Mary calls and and tells me that she and her husband are supposed to go to a wedding on 9/10 and could we please watch Billy because her sitter cancelled at the last minute. I told her no problem, why not make it a sleep over, so they didn't have to worry about rushing home. She was very thankful. Lo and behold, at the sleepover Billy wakes up in the middle of the night with a fever and sore throat. I gave him a dose of tylenol and sent him back to bed. He was up early ( a little after 7) and still didn't feel well. I called Mary at 7:30 and told her Billy wasn't feeling well and that I would walk him home. She told me not to bother that her husband would come get him. I was dealing with my younger son at the time, and my husband answered the door. Mary's husband (I'll call him Bob) and my husband chatted for a bit, Bob saying that he was up and dressed any way because he was meeting friends for an early round of golf. Monday morning (9/12) after the boys go to school, I walk down to Mary's with my younger son to drop off a video game her son left at our house. Mary was very cold and hostile towards me. I asked her if something was wrong and she goes on a tirade about how I should have told her we were not a christian family and that how she never would have allowed her son to become so "ingrained" with a "non believing" family, and that she would never allow her son to associate with people who support terrorism, especially on 9/11!
I was stunned, and I left. Now, mind you, I never said "My husband is Muslim," and maybe this woman is no Rhodes scholar, but I have never met a non Muslim man who was named Mohammed. Not to mention our last name isn't exactly Smith or Jones. The mother in law in Lebanon should have been a clue, too. .... but I digress....My son comes home from school that day saying he wants to go to another school. He said none of the kids will play with him, and that they are all saying that his father is a terrorist! I immediately call the teacher, set up a meeting for the next morning before school. We meet with the teacher, explain the story, she is VERY apologetic. Apparently during the day she gave a little lesson on 9/11 and stereotyping, and sent a letter home to the other parents about the issue. Bob came over that evening and brought Billy and made him apologize. Bob then went on to explain that Mary had recently become involved with this church through a friend and that he did not agree with many of it's teachings and that he was sorry for the trouble he had started, because it was he who had pointed out that Mohammed was Muslim. He said that after he had picked up Billy she asked him if he had invited us to her church's 911 memorial service and he explained to her that we may not feel comfortable, and why.
Soo.... my son says some kids are no longer shunning him, but many still are. Although they don't call names outright, they don't include him. I am upset because my son was always such a good student and loved school, now he doesn't even want to go. He is asking if he can go to a different school. We can afford private school, but the only one we would consider is a 45 minute drive away, and we would be responsible for the transportation. I have talked to the school, they can monitor teasing and bullying, but they can't make children play together at recess and lunch... *sigh*
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