*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter. They were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so much.
A few days later on Friday Dave was standing outside Ben's, Chelsea's and Kaylee's school waiting for Alex to arrive. She was supposed to be there about 15 minutes earlier. School was already left out and the kids were picked up by Brian and Marissa. Dave looked at his watch wondering where she was. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed her number. He was about to press send when he saw her pull into the school's parking lot. "It's about time," he said to himself. Alex pulled into the empty parking space next to his and quickly got out of the car. "You're late," he said.
"Well, it's Friday night, I work in the city I hit some traffic," she said. "I'm sorry."
"I work in the city too and I was still here on time," he said.
"Yeah but I had to wait until my school let out," she said, "I had to be the teacher in the parent parking lot. I'm sorry," she said.
"How about we just move into the city and send our kids to a private school in the city so we don't' have to worry about it?" asked Dave.
"Don't be an asshole," she said. "Let's go meet with Mrs. Mannix," she said. They walked over to the front entrance and walked into the school. They headed down the hall to Ben's classroom. "And just so you know I would NEVER live in the city again. They don't have houses.. They only have apartments and I'm not living in an apartment with 6 children."
"That would be like suicide," said Dave.
"Yeah it would," she said as they made it to the hallway of Ben's classroom. They looked at the artwork outside of his classroom. They looked for his but they couldn't find it. "Maybe it was a day he was absent," she said shrugging her shoulders.
"No it was done yesterday," said Mrs. Mannix, "we'll discuss that artwork as well. Come in please and have a seat."
"Okay," said Dave as he allowed Alex to walk in before him. They walked into the classroom and took a seat at the small curved table at the front of the room. Alex had no problem sitting down in the little chair but Dave on the other hand was having trouble. He sat down but he wasn't comfortable so he just sat on the floor. "I guess this is easier."
"I see where Ben gets it from," said Mrs. Mannix looking at Dave.
"Mrs. Mannix, my husband is a large man that used to be a wrestler. His body aches a lot. He wasn't comfortable so the floor is better for him."
"Okay," she said, "so how are you doing today Mr. and Mrs. Bautista?"
"Good," said Alex with a smile, "how about you?"
"I'm all right. Glad it's Friday," she said. Mrs. Mannix was a teacher that was about 40-45 years old. She had black hair that she had pulled up in a bun. She was wearing a white blouse and black pants. She just had a look about her that said she was a mean teacher and she didn't put up with any mischief a student threw at her. She very rarely smiled and Alex sensed she didn't really like children so she always wondered why she was a teacher. "Benjamin was quite the handful today."
"I'm sorry," said Alex.
"I have never seen a boy act the way he does. He is disrespectful, destructive and disruptive. I don't know what to do with him anymore. At the beginning of the week he stabbed another student with a pencil. He claimed he did it on accident but the child was no where near him. Benjamin got out of his seat, walked over to the other child and stabbed him with a pencil."
"Did he puncture anything?" asked Dave.
"No, if he would have he would have been expelled, Mr. Bautista."
"Oh," he said. "So why did he stab this child with a pencil. Ben wouldn't just purposely stab someone without reason."
"The child claims it has something to do with a little girl in our class. Teagan," she said. "The boys must have had some dispute on the playground over her that Benjamin carried into the classroom and stabbed him with the pencil."
"They're 5 and 6 years old," said Alex, "why would they be having a dispute over a little girl?"
"I don't know. You tell me, Mrs. Bautista. Your son seems to have an obsession with the opposite sex. I caught him on Tuesday looking up the little girls' skirts."
"And how would my son be looking up little girls' skirts?" asked Dave, "unless he was crawling on the floor to do it and since his pants were not dirty I don't assume he was."
"Oh no. He was doing it all day. He was in the classroom doing it by having the girls stand up on the chairs and looking up their skirts. At recess it was the jungle gym."
"Why were there little girls on the jungle gym while wearing a skirt?" asked Dave.
"Mr. Bautista, it's the required uniform. Do we need to discuss the uniform guidelines? Girls in Kindergarten through 2nd grade must wear a plaid jumper, with a white or navy blue polo, white knee high socks and black dress shoes. While the boys must wear a navy blue or white polo with khaki pants and black dress shoes. The girls were wearing what they were supposed to. Your son seems to have a problem."
"Were the girls wearing shorts underneath their skirts like the rule book states?"
"It doesn't matter if they were or weren't. Your son shouldn't' have been looking up the skirts. That is not normal behavior," she said.
"Okay, so he was looking up the skirts of little girls?" asked Alex, "was he punished?"
"He lost recess time," she stated. "I don't know what else to do with him."
"We should come up with some type of behavior reward system," said Alex. "I do that with some of my students at the school I work at. We have them get stickers for each time they do something positive. If they finish their homework they get a sticker, if they don't get in trouble they get a sticker and when they get about 10 or 15 stickers they get a reward. We could do something like that," said Alex.
"We have a behavior system in our class. Each student has car with their name on it. The first time they move it it's green and that means that's 5 minutes of recess, the second time they move it it's yellow and that means 10 minutes of recess and the red is the third time and that means no recess and a note sent home. Then the last and final one that I had to implement because of Benjamin is white. If you land on that you get a letter home, a trip to the principal and no recess time. At the end of the day if you haven't moved your car at all you get a sticker and if you get so many stickers you get something out of the prize box," said Mrs. Mannix.
"I realize that," said Alex, "but that goes to the whole class. Ben needs something just for him. Something that is going to make him behave. WE can work together to make it happen. He seemed to do really well when he was going to Wrestlemania. He didn't get in trouble at school because he knew that he wouldn't be able to go."
"So what do you suggest?" asked Mrs. Mannix.
"I like the sticker thing or at least something like that. His goal would be to earn a sticker for the day and if he gets a sticker everyday then you give him a prize and we give him a prize at home. He would get a sticker for having homework done, listening to the teacher, being friendly, following the rules and being respectful. That might work. If he does all those things in one day then he gets a sticker. 5 stickers equal a prize."
"That might work," said Dave. "If he's working toward something he might actually behave."
"That does sound like a good idea. We could try that," said Mrs. Mannix. "I think we should do that. We can start that on Monday. Give it a trial run to see how it works out."
"Yeah," said Alex. "He's a sweet kid and a good one when he wants to be. I'm not sure what his problem is here in school."
"I don't understand him either," said Mrs. Mannix as she got up and walked over to her desk. She came back over and laid down some of Ben's papers in front of them. "He's a very good student academically. He's in the highest reading group, he excels well at math and other subjects but it's his behavior that is the problem. If he behaved he would be a model student."
Alex and Dave looked through the papers. Mrs. Mannix was right. Ben was a smart child. He did very well on his school work. Most of the papers they were looking at had smiley faces and stars on them. Ben was a good reader and he read very well. He was better at reading than Kaylee was. They couldn't deny it he was a smart boy but like Mrs. Mannix said it was his behavior that was the problem. "He does do very well," said Alex.
"But then I have to put him at his own desk next to mine and take away all of his school supplies," she said. "Follow me. Come look at his desk and I will show you what I mean."
Dave and Alex got up and followed Mrs. Mannix over to Ben's desk. They looked at the top of it and were shocked at what they saw. They knew he could be destructive but not that destructive. "Is that his name?" asked Dave touching the carving on the desk.
"Yes," said Mrs. Mannix. "That's Benjamin's name. He decided to take scissors and carve his name in his desk the Monday AFTER he wrote with permanent marker on his desk."
"Wow," said Alex. She couldn't believe it.
"And his school books destroyed. We don't' even want them back at the end of the year."
"Oh," said Alex as they made their way back up to the front to sit down again.
"And then I get artwork like this," she said laying a picture down in front of Dave and Alex. "This is supposed to be his dad beating up another guy and making him bleed. He claimed his dad hit him with a stick with barbed wire wrapped around it."
Dave and Alex looked at each other and they knew where he got the idea from. "What was the assignment exactly?" asked Alex looking at the picture.
"Draw something about your dad that makes you proud," she said. "and he drew this."
"I get it," said Dave, "he was proud of me beating up the guy at Wrestlemania so he did follow the instructions."
"He may have followed the instructions but this is not school appropriate. He could have drew a picture of you in the barbershop or something. Not you brutalizing another man," she said.
"I know," said Dave.
"I can't keep having these meetings with you," said Mrs. Mannix. "The next time I need to set one up the principal is going to be involved and I'm pretty sure he could be suspended or expelled from school for his behavior."
"Okay," said Alex, "but hopefully this new reward system will work out and we won't have to have new meetings."
"I hope so too," she said. "So do you two have any questions?"
"No," said Alex.
"No," said Dave.
"Well, then we're done here for today. I will be making Benjamin's reward chart this weekend and we'll give it a go."
"Okay," said Alex, "sounds like a plan to me. Thank-you."
"You're welcome and thank-you for taking the time to meet with me today."
"It was no problem," said Dave as he stood up. He shook her hand and then Alex shook her hand.
"You two have a good weekend," she said.
'You too," said Alex as her and Dave walked out of the classroom. "Looking up girls' dresses? And drawing graphic pictures? What is wrong with our son?"
"Nothing," said Alex. "He's a boy. They always look up girls' dresses. It's curiosity."
"And it could get him kicked out of school."
"I know but he's just doing what boys do," he said.
"Boys are disgusting. I would have been fine having all girls," she said. "You were on that roll what happened?"
"I don't' know but I'm glad I got some boys in there."
"I will do what I can to make sure Josiah isn't disgusting like most boys," said Alex. "I mean I just don't get it. They pick their noses, they pick at their belly buttons, they burp, they think it's cool to pass gas, they always have their hands in their pants and it's just gross. Ew."
"Welcome to the world of having boys," said Dave.
"And they don't get their pee in the toilet. Even you don't do that," she said.
"Okay. How about I pick on the girls?" asked Dave.
"Go ahead. You can't find anything gross or disgusting about us," she said.
"Really?" he asked. "Because last time I checked girls leave clumps of hair in the shower drain, they get their periods and just throw their products in the trashcan. Let's see they scream when there's a bug near them, drooling over boy singers, crying all the time, nail polish, fashion and stuff like that. So girls are just as bad. And you don't clean out the drain when you're done taking a shower and I find your hair. That's almost as disgusting as you stepping in my pee."
"And another thing.. Is it too hard for you to put the seat down when you're done going to the bathroom?"
"Yes it is," said Dave, "and is it too much to ask for you to put your products in a separate trashcan or something?"
"Yes," said Alex, "but you don't have to worry about that for another 34 weeks because of your super sperm getting me pregnant."
"No. It was your overly fertile ovaries and tube that made the procedure come undone."
"We won't have to worry about that after you get your vasectomy will we?"
"Why do I have to give up my man hood?"
"Why do I have to worry about having another baby after this one before I actually go through menopause. At least if you get a vasectomy we'll know I can't get pregnant."
"Or you could get your tubes done again," he said.
"Ugh, Men," she said.
"Women," he said as they walked to their cars.
"And another thing since I'm pregnant again. I hope this baby is a girl."
"I hope it's a boy so he can be just as disgusting as the rest of us," he said.
"Shut up," she said opening her car door. "Team Pink."
"You shut up," he said, "Team Blue!"
"Whatever," she said getting into her car and slamming the door shut. He did the same thing and they both headed to their house where Brian and Marissa were with the kids.
When they arrived Brian and Marissa had the kids out front riding their bikes. Dave got out of his car as Alex got out of hers. They stormed over to the house and Brian said, "How was the meeting?" Dave and Alex walked right past him and didn't say a word. "Okay," he said.
Dave followed Alex into the house and slammed the door shut. "So what is the problem? What was that back at the school?"
"It was nothing," she said.
"It didn't' seem like nothing."
"I said it was nothing," she said.
"It was obviously something so tell me."
"Our 5 year old son is looking up little girls' dresses and you find nothing wrong with that. It's boys will be boys. That's disgusting, Dave."
"What do you want me to do about it?" he asked. "It's what boys do."
"I don't' care if other boys do it. I don't want my son to do it. I want you to sit him down and talk to him about why it's wrong to do stuff like that."
"All right. I'll talk to him about it but you don't have to get so upset about it. He's a boy and they do that kind of stuff."
"Not Ben. I want him to be respectful of girls and if we allow him to look up girls' dresses now what's he going to do when he's older? He wont' have respect for women. Nip it now," said Alex.
"All right. Just relax," he said. "I'll talk to him."
"You better," said Alex, "because I will not tolerate it."
"But Alex, he's only 5.."
"And he should think girls have cooties not looking up their dresses. That's not normal."
"Alex, I think you're making a bigger deal out of it than what it is," said Dave.
"Oh really?" asked Alex, "Let me ask you this."
"Okay," he said.
"If a little boy would have been looking up Chelsea's skirt when she was 5 or up Kaylee's skirt what would you do?"
"I would be pissed off and I would call the school immediately for them to handle it."
"Exactly so how do you think those little girls' parents felt?"
"All right," said Dave. "I'll go talk to him. I'm sorry. I don't know where he gets this stuff."
"Me either," said Alex, "but I don't like it."
"I know you don't," said Dave, "but I will talk to him. I'm going right now."
"Hey.. Do you want to do a family night or something?"
"I guess. Where do you want to go?"
"Chuck E. Cheese," she said.
"Sure," he said. "it will be a fun night for the kids and maybe that will get them to sleep and then we can have some fun."
"Shut up," said Alex with a smile. "Just go talk to Ben."
"I'm going," he said. "I'm going." Dave made his way outside and called Ben over. Ben got off his bike and walked over to his dad. "I need to talk to you okay?"
"Okay," said Ben as he followed Dave into the house. They walked into the living room and sat down on the couch.
"So I talked to your teacher today," he said.
"Oh," said Ben less than thrilled.
"She told me that Tuesday you were looking up little girls' dresses. Why?"
"Because I wanted to," said Ben. "Kayson does it too. He was looking up Kaylee's skirt yesterday."
Dave felt the heat in his face rising and felt the redness on his face. "Why? Why do you two do it?"
"I don't' know," said Ben, "I just wanted to see up their skirts. Kayson says girls don't have a penis so I wanted to see for myself. I asked girls to let me see up their skirt and they let me."
"But why did you do it in the classroom and then out on the playground?"
"Because," he said. "I wanted to make sure all girls didn't have a penis."
Dave held back from laughing and said, "but you can't do that Ben. Their private parts are just as private as yours. Would you want a little girl to pull your pants down to see your penis or your underwear?"
"I wouldn't care," he said. "If they don't' have a penis what do they have?"
"It's called a vagina," said Dave, "but your mom calls it something different."
"So why do girls have a vagina and boys have a penis?" he asked.
"Because God made it that way," he said, 'but you can't look up girls' skirts to make sure they don't have a penis. It's rude. And it's not being respectful to them."
"Okay," he said.
"And I don't want you to grow up to be one of those guys that disrespect women. You have to respect their privacy and you're going to learn that as you grow up in a house that is dominated by females."
"Okay, Dad," said Ben, "but the girls let me see up their skirts."
"It doesn't matter, Ben, it's rude and you shouldn't have asked. I don't want you to do that anymore okay?"
"Okay, Dad," he said. "but I think it's weird they don't' have penises."
"When you get older you'll understand the differences and it won't be so weird anymore."
"I guess," he said shrugging his shoulders. "Can I go back outside and play now?"
"Sure," said Dave. "Go ahead but don't look up girls' dresses again."
"I won't," he said getting up from the couch.
"All right," said Dave as he watched Ben run out the door. He smiled and shook his head. He realized that Ben was going to be the first boy that he had to explain the birds and the bees to and discuss puberty to. He hoped he would do better with those speeches than he did with the one he just had with Ben.
Dave walked into the kitchen to see Alex standing at the sink washing dishes. "Did you talk to him?"
"Yeah," said Dave, "He said he did it to see if they had a vagina and he wanted to make sure all girls didn't have a penis."
"Wow," said Alex.
"I explained it was rude for him to do and that he shouldn't' do that again. He said he wasn't going to. I told him that girls have vaginas because he asked what they were called but he didn't understand the difference. I told him when he gets older he will."
"I see," said Alex. "But I still want this baby to be a girl."
"How about a boy?"
"No," said Alex, "I told you I am team pink."
"All right. I'm team blue," he said. "Team blue will come out on top."
"You wish," she said with a smile. "I love you."
"I love you too," he said as he kissed her lips softly. "So are you ready to take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese?"
"I'm never really ready but I guess I have to be ready huh?"
"Or we could blow off Chuck E. Cheese tonight and go to Central Park tomorrow and spend the day there as a family."
"Oh my Gosh. We haven't done that for a while. I think we should."
"So Central Park it is and your mom can come too."
"All right," said Alex, "but I think while Brian and Marissa have the kids occupied we should go talk."
"You want to go have a talk?"
"Yeah," said Alex with a smile. "Let's go."
"All right," he said picking her up and carrying her upstairs to the bedroom. He made sure he locked the door and they spent some time making love while their kids were being watched outside.
*A/N: Ben has some major problems. He was looking up little girls' dresses but Dave finds nothing wrong with that. He should have been more upset about it than he was. Ben is destructive and he is drawing graphic pictures although he was proud of his dad beating up Swagger. Let's hope the new behavior reward system his teacher and Alex put into place works or Ben could be kicked out of the school. Dave and Alex are not really getting along too much in this chapter. Alex thinks boys are gross and Dave thinks the girls are just as bad. Alex is Team Pink and Dave is Team Blue but in the end they managed to work out their problems. Let's hope this family day at central park helps them get along better and help the kids out. So what did you think? Please review and thank-you for taking the time to read.