When Jeff Lewis received a voice message about an “incident” at his 2-year-old daughter Monroe’s Montessori preschool, his mind began to race.
“There was a part of me that thought maybe I did something,” Lewis, 49, revealed on Tuesday’s episode of his SiriusXM radio show. “I was kind of hoping Monroe bit someone or threw sand in someone’s face. We could only hope it was her and not me.”
It was him.
“Apparently, I’ve mentioned a few things about the school on air,” the former “Flipping Out” star explained.
Lewis admitted he was “especially critical” about the “Back to School Night” event.
“For the first 45 minutes, I just felt like I was being lectured as a parent in what we should be doing and the Montessori way,” the interior designer said.
Next, the teachers showed a video.
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“I thought, ‘Great. We’re going to see what the kids have been doing and learning,’” he said. “It was, no s---, 15 minutes of the kids doing dishes.” (One of the hallmarks of the Montessori method is the “practical life” curriculum.)
Lewis wasn’t impressed. “On the one hand, Monroe is never going to do dishes,” he quipped. “But number two, if she did do dishes, I could teach her that for free.”
But complaining about "Back to School Night" wasn’t the only strike against Lewis. The headmistress pointed out that Lewis read two school emails on air and poked fun of several mothers. She characterized this as bullying behavior.
Lewis doesn't deny describing one woman as looking like she would go to a group sex party.
“I mentioned the first names, I did not mention the last names,” Lewis noted. “I’ve never mentioned the location of the school, nothing.”
Lewis “groveled” for forgiveness, but the headmistress refused to budge on her decision to expel Monroe. According to Lewis, only one person complained about him.
“It got a bit contentious. I just said, ‘I can’t believe that this is the Montessori way. You don’t get to make amends, there’s no second chances,’” he lamented. “No warning, nothing.”
Though Lewis and his former partner Gage Edward are struggling to find Monroe a spot at a new school, he is glad to be done with Montessori.
“I think these people are arrogant, they’re pretentious… I don’t want Monroe to be in a strict school with overachievers and massive homework,” Lewis sniffed. “She has her whole life to be stressed out. It’s preschool; let her be a kid and have fun.”