Friday, November 19

That Hair - Baby P

I tell Eitan he could be in a rock band. He smirks. His hair like the sixth member of the family (including "Rusty"). I join his class for the first time in a few years - in fact, not since I delivered a story about "Kit Kat Cowboy" and Eitan covered his eyes for 20 minutes. It was unnerving. This morning he protests and I take the bait: no embarrassement from me, no Sir (as I drop my trousers and show my stripy pants).


After passing school security (from today I am undergoing a background check by the Criminal Records Bureau as a matter of course for being in the classroom. This procedure new. Britain taking child protection seriously following "Baby P.") I join Mr B to find the classroom joyous. Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in the background and the children singing. The sun shines through the window as I listen to little people laughing and chattering like something from Roger & Hammerstein. Mr B puts me to work filing papers then making black stars and white planets from construction papers - the solar system under investigation. Did you know that Neptune takes 164 earth years to travel around the sun? I didn't. (Note Eitan's shirt sprinkled with stars - "Mufti Day" dude). The kids well behaved (I think of "Rusty" - anybody can be trained) and one friendly gal takes the stage to present her "soap box" about a recent visit to Egypt. Captivating, too. Eitan able to contribute that King Tut's early demise most likely from undernourishment and a few violent bone-breaks which he describes with relish. His knowledge from the Denver Museum. I make a point of not noticing the boy though I am aware he is sensitive to my every movement.

The music and singing btw practice for the O2 center where the kids will perform over the holiday break.

Peter Connelly ("Baby P") was an English 17-month old boy who died in London after suffering more than 50 injuries over an eight-month period, during which he was repeatedly seen by Haringey Children's services and NHS health professionals. The case caused public shock partly because of the magnitude of Peter's injuries and partly because Peter had lived in the London Borough of Haringey, North London, under the same child care authorities that had already failed ten years earlier in the case of Victoria ClimbiƩ. A public enquiry resulted in measures to prevent similar cases happening. Peter's mother, Tracey Connelly, her boyfriend, Steven Barker, and Jason Owe were convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child, the mother having pleaded guilty to the charge.