Since I had kids of my own, I’ve realized that they’re great conversation material in the classroom. Every adult I teach either has kids or is familiar with several of them and has strong opinions.

Questions of ‘how are the schools organized where you are from?’ are perennial, and ‘watching’ another family deal with school topics gives plenty of room for discussion.

In this relatively short series of stories, the O’Malley family has to deal with two fairly common problems in my own parenting life. (The worksheet numbers continue from the first block of stories and these stories are continued by the block about Melissa’s class reunion.)

1. After school drama. Patrick O’Malley volunteers to pick up the kids from school, but there is some drama when he can’t find the boys. They aren’t where he expects them to be. Worksheet four, answer key.
2. Waiting for the boys. After he couldn’t find the boys in the last story, Patrick decides to blame his wife for the miscommunication. Of course, he doesn’t stay angry as long I usually do. Worksheet five, answer key.
3. Trouble at School. Melissa O’Malley is called into school because Ed ‘made bad choices,’ and now she feels like she is the one the school punishes.
4. A Mother’s Frustration. The evening after she is called to the principal’s office, Melissa talks about her frustration with a neighbor.