A New Use for Duct Tape

I’ve got this kid in my class with some sensory issues.  He won’t drink juice or eat any type of juicy fruit because he doesn’t like the way it feels in his mouth.  He won’t even eat popsicles!  Oh well, we all have our foibles and I’m certainly not one to judge, but I must admit he’s a challenge to have in class.  (One of these days I’ll tell you about the shoe-tying incident that involved two teachers, a principal, an office manager, a school nurse, and various and sundry parents.  I still have to fully recover from it first though!)

Along with the shoe-tying incident, there have also been several pants- and shorts-tying incidents; the result of which is that he no longer comes to school with ties of any kind anywhere near his person.  He wears Crocs every day, and athletic pants or shorts with all the ties removed, and I promise you we are all the happier for it.  (Hats off to his parents for doing something about it and not just making it my problem.)

So...we’re making plans for our play and my partner and I, in an effort to make things as simple as possible for our families, ask that everyone just wear the darkest jeans they have.  We figure everyone has jeans, and since the costumes are just your basic T-shirts with an animal painted on them, we figure everyone’s good to go.  Until…

The other day the above mentioned student informed me that he doesn’t like to wear jeans.  Oh, brother, there’s just no pleasing some people!  I asked if he had some basic blue or black pants that he could wear.  I know his family attends church so I’m pretty confident that they will have something that works. 

He points to the pants he’s wearing and asks if he can wear those.  They’re your basic athletic pants with a bunch of white stripes and other nonsense running the full length of each side.  While I want the kids to be comfortable on stage, I also want them to look like they are in a performance, not on the ball field.

I point out all the “stuff” on the sides of his pants and explain that those particular pants are probably not the best choice.  Not skipping a beat he says, “Oh, that’s okay Mrs. J., I’ll just cover the sides up with duct tape.”

Oh, yes, bright silver duct tape will certainly camouflage the white stripes just nicely!  And good grief, I don’t even want to think about the image of him standing up there on stage removing said duct tape during the entire performance!

“Um,” I say, “why don’t I talk to your mom about it?  I’m sure we can work something out.”

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that he’s a problem solver and all, but seriously, duct tape?!