One of my favorite stories took place at the Yukon City Dump. Years ago a friend of mine and I went to the local dump to throw away some old fence panels. When we got there, the on-duty attendant showed us a long list of rules explaining what could and could not be dumped. Number 12 or 13 on the list read, “No Live Animals.” The reason it’s so funny to me is, you know it got added to the list because somebody actually tried it. No one just came up with that rule for the list — you know that rule was added after a customer with a box of kittens was turned away from the dump.

Today was our first official parent/teacher conference at Mason’s school. He’s been going there a week now, so I suspect the teachers like to give it a week to see where the problem areas (and who the problem children) are. Several of the points of interest throughout the evening were routine. We learned about appropriate clothing and footwear, what types of snacks we should and shouldn’t bring, and so on.

But then, things kind of got weird. The principal started talking about how it is not a good idea to let your four-year-old walk home from school alone. They also talked about how dropping your kid off at the school an hour before adults arrive is not acceptable. The lady speaking mentioned that while teachers don’t arrive until 8:15am, people have been dropping their kids off at 7:30, a time at which only the janitor and the secretary are present.

The weirdest part was when they covered cell phone usage rules for Mason’s pre-K class. I (along with a few of the other parents) chuckled when they announced this, but the principal assured us that this was a real problem last year. Four-year-old kids were bringing cell phones to class and getting calls from mommy and daddy, checking up on them.

It really bothers me when I think about why these rules were added.