Brat Gets his Due3

“I didn’t know he was like that at school,” his mother said. “I thought he was just aggresive at me because I’m at work a lot when he gets home, and work takes up some of my time at home. I’ve been ignoring it or trying to compensate for my work, but I can see I need to take a stronger hand to stop this. His father would always handle him when he got out of line. Maybe I should deal with this the same way. You can be sure he will be taken care of.” “I wish I could have taken care of this myself,” Ms. Ames said. “I don’t like to call parents in, except as a last resort. The school board won’t let us discipline kids much more than keeping them after school for thirty minutes. Most of the kids don’t mind since they can do their homework then. And the parents often yell at us because the kids are late getting home. Sometimes I’d just like to give up.” As the school administrator was talking, an idea flashed into Mrs. Jones mind. “Sheila, I have an idea I’d like you to consider. You can’t discipline Mike here. I don’t like him being at home alone after school and sometimes evenings and Saturdays.