B was tested for reading yesterday. I should mention that he started first grade barely reading at all. Today he is reading at a level 30. For those, like me, who don’t understand that, it means he’s reading at the level he should be at the end of second grade.

He’s at the end of first.

I fully credit his teacher with this. Yes, we work on it at home. Yes, his father and I are bookworms. But she has instilled in him the love of reading. She has nurtured him, and all of his classmates. She rocks. Incidentally, I’d be saying this even if he wasn’t doing so well. I really admire her. She is an amazing woman.

T’s teacher pulled me aside to tell me a “funny story” today. They were doing some work and his classmate Cate said, “I know who I’m going to marry.” (She’s been in love with my B since the beginning of the school year.) The kids prodded and she said “B”. This is what I thought was the funny story. Oh, no. I guess this opened a talk amongst the kids about marriage, the you can’t marry your mom, or you sister or brother, kind of talk. One of the kids said, “Boys can’t marry boys.” My T pipes up and says, “Yes they can!” One of the other kids starts to argue it with him and he says “Oh yes they CAN!”

She was amused (disguising concern) that my 5 year old was so versed in gay marriage, and asked if he was still friendly with the gay man that lives in an apartment upstairs from us. “Could he be influencing T?” she asked.

What?

I was speechless. I assured her that yes, we are all still friends, and my husband and I have many other gay friends. My sister, T’s auntie, is in a committed relationship with a woman as well. I explained that we have a very open dialogue about different family dynamics in our home. And then I told her how proud I was that of T for not wavering. He stuck by what he thought, though his classmates disagreed.

The teacher seemed a bit more surprised than I thought she would be that I was ok with this. I did apologize for my son bringing up a clearly sensitive subject in class. I think that’s all she wanted; my acknowledging that our views are still not held in the mainstream and warrant an apology.

I applaud her for not injecting her own opinion into the students’ conversation. I am a little upset that she would inquire about the relationship of my son with my neighbor in such a, oh what’s the word…., disapproving? tone. He gay, not a child molester. He’s about the kindest, most wonderful man you’ll likely meet. Everyone who knows his thinks so.

I haven’t decided if I find this insulting or funny.

On that note, this story that I came across on Wizbang is a good example of why I felt the need to apologize. Not everyone shares our views. I totally respect that. And it’s really not an appropriate school topic.