My DS13 has a good friend who lives around the corner from us. The boys go to different schools.
I received a text from the friend’s mum last night. She said she had been speaking to her DS and he told her that my DS receives similar results to him- mainly C’s and Ds. She asked if we could meet up and have a chat about how best to help our sons with tutors and how to navigate academics at school. She said all of her DS’s cousins and other friends seemed to have no struggles at all at school and she felt a bit isolated-she would love to catch up with someone who was in a similar situation with an academically struggling son. It was a really reaching out heartfelt text.
Except my DS does not struggle academically. He is a straight A academic scholarship holding student who is likely to receive the year level dux this year. I asked him what he was playing at and he said that his friend was so down and he just downplayed his results to make his friend feel better.
The funny thing is her son has such people skills, charm and grit that he is likely to end up the most successful of all his cousins and friends (including my son) but that would just sound patronising if I said this to her. Argh. My son is a complete wally.
What on earth do I tell the mum? My son lied because he felt sorry for your son? The poor woman has reached out about something and I can’t continue with the lie- she will find out eventually and it would just be wrong. Obviously DS has to fess up to his mate, but how do I respond to the mum who just poured out her worries to me as she thought I was a fellow traveler?