Thank you Mona. I have to admit it wasn't one of my brighter moves to wait and I will not be doing that again. I should be fine if I take the meds and avoid stress but I'll remember that offer should anything happen again. :-) Hugssssssss.

Funny you should mention tattoo because that was stage two and what I was so worried about. Richard sported a political T Tattoo last week that clearly did not disrupt the educational mission of the school. Only one adult took issue with it however made the choice not to send Richard to the office after a conversation about free political speech. I am proud of Richard for standing his ground and actually showing the adult why he should not be punished. The adult actually went from being really upset to offering to help Richard. Now that was amazing. The T tattoo is much like your son's in making a loud statement that I feel at least the administration and board would be uncomfortable with.

Anna I wish the school board had a MBA policy. It would indeed save us from their narcissistic paranoia that a child should be judged by the style of clothes they wear. OMG a child is in all black we must treat them differently because obviously they are up to no good. I simply cannot subscribe to that way of paranoid thinking. Oh no his pants are too big he must have a weapon. It is completely idiotic to me. She dyed her hair pink must mean she is into drugs. Foolishness.

I think of how scary my nephew Mike looked during high school. Oh he loved to wear black and skulls. He looked scary but everyone who knew him knew what a sweet kid he was. Never did drugs or drank and last year after college he traded in his black attire with all those skulls for an Air Force uniform. The administrators from his high school who judged him based on his clothes and made his time there hell because of his clothes should take a lesson.

Richard continually points out the foolishness of hanging flags and constitutions in classroom to solve the problem of unpatriotic children. He said if they really want to solve that problem instead of creating that law they should have dismissed every school board in America and replaced them with patriots. He only views the flags and constitutions as another hypocrisy in school.

At home he has a copy of the constitution and a flag hanging in his bedroom. Also when I went to Tucson blueprinting for a set of plans one of the guys who has spoken to Richard many times created a huge hand drawn poster for him that was laminated. It is outstanding with an eagle, flag, and the words Don't forget our Fallen Heroes. I wish the school board would recognize that this isn't just an issue with Richard. It is something he not only believes so much in but it is what he lives.

Yeah I am a firm believer in what you have written. Children have to find themselves while we as parents stand back with that proverbial rod gently guiding them. (I am referring to spare the rod spoil the child scripture that is all to often misused) Rod being the tool of the shepherd to gently guide his sheep not exercise control or abuse. I think our "rod" today is the bible in that I have confidence Richard will make the right choices according to his teachings.

I am very worried about the rest of the plan he has so I called the NRA this morning to ask for support and they hooked me up with a Tucson attorney. I know a boy in Texas took on his school board a few years back and the NRA successfully helped him with these same issues. The boy decided to wear a shirt with a gun on it. Needless to say his school had major issues and forced him to remove the shirt. No school has any right to do that. He had the right to wear the shirt. http://www.readthehook.com/stories/2004/01/29/coverThisBoysLawsuitAlanNe.html

I love this case because the dress code of the middle school is much lighter than our dress code at SMS however, "In early December 2003, the appeals court said the Jouett dress code was "unconstitutionally over broad" and that the district court had "abused its discretion." The irony of this is that our district do not have uniforms but a uniformed dress code. Because of this they are not afforded the protection of the courts if they had a strict uniform rule. So our dress code I think falls into the "unconstitutionally over broad."

Anyway I am letting him go forward with his plan with my complete support. And since there are absolutely zero rules about ....

It will get easier Mona. I was just thinking back to the first time Richard told me, "Because I said so." He was about your sons age. Oh I was not to happy about that but I couldn't contain my laughter enough to reason with him at that moment. He said many more things that left me laughing over that year. I would have to leave the room and then put on the "unhappy" face to get my point across. I'm really not sure if he ever believed I was not happy about those little things he said.

Hugs- hang in there- it will get easier.

I agree food choices alter behavior because I have seen it so many times in the toddlers in my family. Breakfast this morning at school was fried dough rolled in sugar with a side of chocolate milk. Breakfast of champions, NOT. Is it Churro they call those sticks of bread that are deep fried then rolled in sugar? I fail to understand how this tasty treat has earned it's rank among healthy breakfast choices. They might as well serve our kids a bowl of oil and sugar. One would think that a churro would rank high on the list of junk food items that ought not be in school. I agree with you on the junk and out of control kids. Now if we could only make the people who can do something about it recognize the connection...

I don't think children would quit school. Most children would want to continue. I do think some may wish to quit the school they are in for another. Even that not so much because of the social aspect. Trust me I tried rather hard to convince Richard a change of school was in order. He wasn't agreeable because he has so many close friends at this school. At this age friends are important. Since he was willing to tough out (as he would put it) his final year of his sentence we reluctantly left him there but are already regretting it.

names we are considering are--- Tiger (I like that) she is as ornery as a tiger when she is ready to be fed. Popcorn because she has so much energy and seems to pop around Bonnie because she is wearing a mask therefore needs an outlaw name Mist because we already have Sierra never again will we run out of Sierra Mist a favorite soda. Still undecided but as her personality shines through we are narrowing the list. Thanks everyone for emailing suggestions!

Actually, for fox terriers it is not all that unusual for the body to be all white. Her father is pretty much the same. Jack Russell which the mom is will usually be primarily white with patches of color.

I was in D.C a few months ago and I have to say I am, at this moment, jealous of your abilities. My photos in no way come close to what you have captured. Amazing.