In our school district..each school has the option of using the robocall. You will usually get a call for elementary age kids around 11 am...if your child was marked absent and you either didn't call ahead or the secretary didn't a chance to get them entered. If I child is absent on a day and they aren't often absent..they will NOT be tracked down. If however a child is absent and it's a "typical" thing some schools secretaries will make a personal call. It's a history type thing to turn into the child court for truancy issues. Yep even in elementary. Now if the child is in middle school or high school and you don't call in, you can expect a robo call in the evening letting you know what periods your child was marked absent. Now if a sub is in..likely you'll get your child was absent periods 1,2, 4 and 6.. because sub sheet absences are entered by the attendance secretary at the end of the day or the next morning. Like I said the only time a personal safety call(live person) is made is if your child has quite a history of absences. And only the "main" number is called. Emergency numbers are only used if their is an emergency on the child's behalf and the home and parents cell numbers are not reaching the parent. I don't think I've ever worked in a school where the principal has time to make "safety" calls.

After this was posted the first time I got to thinking that maybe I should have picked something else for my counters. (I'm a marketing grad and still the biggest second guesser of all my buying decisions). My mom is redoing her kitchen and I was taking her around to a variety of places one of which was our counter place. They sell granite, marble and silestone products. I was surprised when my mom said she wanted to look at the silestone products and when I asked why (as I'm drooling over the granite) she said she found the granite too busy. I was shocked> We went and looked at the silestone which they had in slabs and she fell in love with the coolness and the calmness of the stone. I, on the other found them to be cold and boring. She walked through the silestone aisles and I went back to the granite aisles and we were both happy. That's why there are choices out there - none are right or wrong just what is right for each of us. This visit confirmed that the granite was right for us.

Hi Cindrillon, I feel obliged to respond to your post, since it mirrors my life so closely. I am an American, married to a Frenchman living in France with 2 step sons (6 and 8 years old). Although we have them EOW plus 1-2 days per week. I have a couple of questions. How long have you been living in France? Do you work? Do you have many friends here? I ask this because I started following this forum because I was having major problems adapting to life with my step sons when I moved here 2 years ago. I felt they were rude, babied, not very kind towards me, etc. And I wasnt completely wrong. They yelled at adults and no one reprimanded them, they didnÂt do anything for themselves, couldnÂt (still canÂt) tie their shoes, didnÂt dress themselves, had at potty chair that they still used! Keep in mind they were 4 and 6 at the time. I think a lot of this has to do with culture. To me it seems the French donÂt value kids being independent as much as Americans do. It also has to do with guilt on my DHÂs side. Plus, everyone was so busy fighting and getting through the divorce earlier that I think, unfortunately the kids kind of slipped through the cracks a little bit in the "life lessons" department. However, I think a major part was me too. I was in a new country, I couldnÂt speak the language well, I felt overwhelmed, tired, and every problem was magnified. Plus, since my life was so narrow (only DH and work) when something was going wrong it felt like my entire world was going wrong. But, it gets better. The kids adjusted, your DH will adjust and YOU will adjust. My DH was good and stepped up to all the "parenting". He let (and lets) me have time by myself if needed. Whereas before he felt we needed to re-create a family and do everything together. But you canÂt force it. (It probably will come, though.) Get out and about. Do things for yourself. Pick up a hobby. I wonÂt say learn the language because thatÂll come naturally (and trust me, the last thing I wanted to do after a long day and a 3 hour round trip commute was sit my butt in a language class). Now weÂre happily married, waiting on our 1st baby together (which the Step Sons are thrilled about), with ups and downs like any other family. I still get annoyed at the kids but itÂs more for "kid" things than "step-kid" things. So, to recap my rambling post Make sure you DH does the "parenting", but jump in for the fun times and try to build a bond. Try your hardest to be nice to your SS. He can sense your feelings even if you donÂt voice them, and youÂll get nowhere. Take time for yourself and try to build your life here. Be patient. Problems always seem magnified when your dealing with so much change to begin with. I know this stuff isnÂt always easy, and IÂm still working on it, too. But I found that it helped me immensely. Also, thereÂs an online group in France for parents called MESSAGE. Maybe look into that. TheyÂve got great support and are always organizing outings. And if youÂd like, let me know and you can email me personally. ItÂs always better when someone understands your situation. Hope things get better. Hang in there.

Wow-this great news! I'm so happy that your Ds & Dh are beginning to develop a true bond and enjoy each other. Yes, it is amazing how sneaky kids can be but it seems in this case he had his own bio dad putting negative thoughts & behaviors in his head. That is truly disgraceful of him to cause such problems for his own son. I'm so happy things are really looking up for you & your family. And congrats on the lil peanut :0) _Cat