First Day of School...2 Months Ago

Ah…the first day of school. Crisp, unstained shirts, pants with the knees intact, shoes without scuff marks or giant holes in the toes, brilliant white socks, and unbridled enthusiasm for the adventure that lies ahead. I love the new backpacks and lunchboxes, boxes of pointy crayons, and the opportunity to go grocery shopping without rustling a herd of cattle alongside the cart. It is a day of mixed emotions…happy, excited, nervous, anxious…you name it and someone in the house has felt it. The first day of school, while terribly exciting in some ways, also has the feel of starting a great big race. You line up at the starting line and when that car pulls away on the first day of school you know you are going to be running and racing until it brings the kids home on the last day of school and you have a little bit of time to catch your breath before the next big race starts. Don’t get me wrong…the race has its exhilarating, wonderful moments but it is also hard and requires endurance. For example…

JC attends all day school so he needs to be out the door by 7:50 a.m. but does not come home until 3:15 p.m. or 1:15 p.m. on early out days. MC has afternoon kindergarten which starts at 12:15 p.m. and ends at 3:15 p.m. HB has preschool 2 days a week in the morning from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Now throw into the mix the fact that MC has to go to school an hour earlier on early out days and both boys get out early on those days and some days I have to drive to kindergarten but on other days I have to pick up all the kids from school. I volunteer in MC’s classrooms on Tuesdays but not the LAST Tues of each month because someone else does that day and every 5 weeks I teach HB’s preschool for 2 days and on Mondays and Fridays I do the Home Reading Program but I don’t put the books away I just have to load the books because someone else wants to put the books away. Each month I do a special "curriculum enhancement" activity in JC’s classroom but only every other month in MC’s classroom. I watch Cynthia’s kids on Wednesday morning while she works in her child’s classroom and she watches HB on Tuesdays when I work in MC’s classroom. I have to do MC’s 20 minute reading in the morning because he melts down in the afternoon but we do JC’s reading in the afternoon as well as any homework. I’ll stop but you get the point. I’m not telling anyone anything new and matter of fact, some of you are shaking your heads and dreaming about the good ole’ days when life was as simple as mine. I know it just gets more complicated as you get more children and they get older but right now it feels like I’m struggling through algebra and wondering how on earth I’ll ever survive statistics. Having kids in school is CRAZY…I love, absolutely love, working in their classrooms and at their school but it really does complicate things when there is more than one child. And maybe it’s just me but it might be time to start a new paragraph.



So…back to the details. JC started 2nd grade this year and is not bashful about telling people that his least favorite days of the week are a) Friday (because it is the last day of school for the week), b) Saturday (because there is no school) and c) Sunday (because there STILL is no school AND he has to sit still for 3 hours). I have to try every week and not take it personally although I’m grateful he enjoys school so much.
MC started afternoon kindergarten. It is hard to believe that he is that old but off he went in his shiny new uniform, anxious but at least willing. He climbed out the car on the first day of school gripping my hand so hard that I honestly started to go numb but telling me he could do it himself. I walked him into his classroom where he reluctantly let go of my hand and told me to go while gazing longingly at me with those enormous blue eyes that screamed, "You aren’t going to LEAVE me here are you?" I made things a little easier for him by insisting on taking his picture in front of all the students with him sitting at his new desk in the front row and by then he was so mortified that he wouldn’t even make eye contact with me. It actually went smoother than I had anticipated.
HB had to wait a 2 whole weeks to start her preschool which truly seemed like an eternity for her. I am doing a little preschool "coop" with 4 other mothers that takes place in my basement. There are 4 little boys and HB, the lone wolf representing the female side of things. We each take a turn teaching 2 days of preschool every five weeks and it has been fantastic so far. I haven’t had my turn yet but I’m thoroughly intimidated by the creativity and genius of all the other moms so it should be good motivation for my turn coming up. HB adores going to school and would honestly do all day, 5 days a week preschool if I could find such a thing. Seriously…should I be offended?
We are off and running on our 2008-2009 school year and it is shaping up to be stressful, fun, interesting, exciting and exhausting. I really wouldn’t have it any other way.
Let the games begin!