[I ♥ cats]

I attempted to call the aunt and uncle of a student this afternoon (dad wrote on the contact form to call them on certain days since he would be working). A young-sounding guy answered the phone and said they were both sleeping. OK, maybe they work nights...although if they're asleep during the day, why did dad say to contact them? Anyway, once I told him who I was he said he was XXXX's babysitter and that I could talk to him. I repeated that I needed to speak to aunt, uncle, or dad and that I'd call back at a better time. He then changed to being XXXX's cousin. I was in the middle of explaining that I couldn't legally talk to him when the line suddenly went dead, while I was in mid-sentence. I don't know if he hung up on me or not but I have a feeling he did. I thought about calling back but then decided that since there was no one available that I could legally speak to anyway, I'd call again on a day when I knew dad was home. This call explains a lot about XXXX's behavior, IMO. Where are all the adults in this poor child's life? Would you have called right back or waited to call again until you knew dad was available?

[klarabelle]

I would wait and speak to dad. I would also tell dad what happened and ask if I had caused a problem by not speaking with ****. I know that sometimes there are several family members that live together and care for the children in the household. Where is the mother? Why isn't she or her parents on the contact sheet?

[City Mouse]

You actually can't legally speak to aunt or uncle either unless they have been designated as legal guardians(by the courts) for the child.
I also wonder where mom is. You really need to make sure that your communication happens only with mom or dad. Mom may not know about or agree to aunt or uncle getting information about her and dad's child so I wouldn't rely just on dad's permission alone. I would wait to speak to dad personally and find out where mom is. I would also get an alternate way to contact him (maybe e-mail) to discuss his child with him. The only time you should be contacting other people is if you are needing someone to pick up the child and they are one of the authorized pick-ups.

[saralara]

Last year I had a situation where I called a number that the mother of a student left for me in his planner. I asked to speak with her and was told she wasn't there by a clearly intoxicated man.

I thanked him and said I'd call back later. After hanging up, I got three "blocked" harassing phone calls in a row.

No idea if they were linked, but it seems oddly coincidental.

Sometimes there is more going on in a household than you can imagine.

I'd wait and call the dad when you knew he would be home and wouldn't even bother bringing it up with him.

[harley]

I would wait and talk to the dad. It is a shame we have so many "interesting" situations with our students. Last year I tried to call one of my student's mother and when the person answered they just talked silly sounds, laughing in the phone, silly again. I thought maybe I had reached a wrong number and so I carefully dialed again - same mess. The next day I tried to call and the phone was disconnected - got the hint then. Sent home notes and although they had the mother's name signed, they were not signed by her - her cousin did it because she "didn't want to be bothered by the ***&&* teacher". (child told me what she said). Explained a lot - these poor children.