I miss the kids. But tutoring routinely in LA has helped with that somewhat.

Your story reminds me of a polar opposite story from my time outside DC. A kid in my class had an F, and the mom came into open house. Open houses result in more parents questioning grades than any other time, so I'm always a bit ready with some defense when I see certain parents walk into the room. This mom said to me, in a firm tone, "Why does my son have an F?"

I said, maybe a bit more indignantly than I needed, "Well, he hasn't turned in homework assignments, he's refused to participate in class, he doesn't do any work during group projects, and instead of doing the mid-term, he put his head down and took a nap."

She processed this for about a second or two. She nodded her head and said, "That would do it." She then stood up and walked out of the room. I never heard from her again.