I can remember in the beginning, spending more and more time "at school". Helping out was easy- it gave me a chance to keep an eye on the boy, watch what was happening, and do early interventions when I saw things spinning out of control.
Kids teasing each other on the playground. Him feeling late or pressured. Getting lost. Forgetting homework or lunch or sharing. I could be there to soften things, or come in behind him with the missing items. It worked for a while, and I made some good friends. I got to know who I wanted him to become after school friends with. I got to know the PTA. I worked for his 1st grade teacher, and we bonded for life along the way.
But it was *draining*. It took all day long. It made me feel like a jailer. My son and his friends however, LOVED it. Turns out, elementary school is a gulag. The kids were being preyed upon out on the blacktop at recess by the older 4th and 5th graders- torments, teasing, general bullies. And the teachers would tell these little kids to "handle it yourself" when they came to them. They were percieved as trouble makers and whiners- crybabies and tattle tales. They had to show up AFTER the beating to get any justice. It was disgusting.
I started showing up with my video camera just to show how little supervision there was out at the recess time- whole areas with no adults in view, kids doing things that were really dangerous. The principal- just one of many BI**HES I have met over the years, came out ONLY when she saw I had a camera- and then she tried to lie to me and tell me I couldn't use it outdoors! "It's against policy". Bull. I knew policy- we had open doors and no barred cameras in any regular classrooms or on public areas. ONLY in the special education classrooms (which our elementary school had NONE) was there any rules about cameras. I persisted.
It's a good idea to always document everything as much as you can. Video and photos mean a great deal in the long run, for you will either be one of the 2% that never has any trouble at all, or one of the 98% that find the rabbit hole opening before them and pulling them deeper and deeper into wonderland, where no one makes sense and do not care how long something takes- after all, what can YOU do?

We will talk about that.......in upcoming posts.