"Graduation"

  Earlier this month, i described one of our at home days, and mentioned the difficulty we'd been having figuring out what Max was wanting when he said repeatedly & insistently, "Graduation."

Figuring it Out: Teamwork

  Last week, MyGuy wondered if maybe Max wanted a graduation party like his brother had had.
  Forehead slap time.  Of course.  i seem to remember at some point saying there would be a graduation party.  It's only fair, regardless of diplomna with honors or certificate. 
  MyGuy and i discussed how to keep this from happening again:  get promises on the calendar at once, have Max write it on HIS (thus far nonexistent) calendar when it comes up, other people (MyGuy) make suggestions to me instead of just thinking i have things under control. . . .
  That made me livid: MyGuy said he'd wondered about the party thing last spring but figured i had actively decided against one & so said nothing.
  This is not solo parenting.  It's a team sport.
  Anyway, party plans are underway & all are friends again.  And someday we'll actually learn to communicate, me, MyGuy, even Max.  We're not any of us giving up, though we sometines get testy over it.

Sign of the Times:  Trying to Invite the Classmates

 Max wants, among other people, his classmates.
  This is somethng of a problem, as i don't have their contact infornation.  And the school can't give it to me.
  Times change:  In the pre-9/11 world, when Boom was in middle school, the privacy policy was that our privacy was very important.  Only "directory information," the sort of thing i would need to send out invitations, would be given out to anyone and everyone on request.
  Since we have a nonpublished landline, we didn't want them to do this.  i couldn't just call the secretary for a form to sign.  i had to talk to an assistant principal.  And he did not have a form for me to sign.  He had to make the form from scratch then red-flag Boom's file.
  It looks like we should be able to contact Max's classmates, though.  It will be more work for the school, and i had to come up with the idea.
  What seems to be the process is, i have the invitations, with MY OUR  contact information, ready to go.  And the alumni person prints out address labels & sticks them on, then they're mailed from school.  Families have the option of telling us anything.
  Good thing there's less than a dozen in the class.