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Perfectly Average

Kindergarten School Picture

Today was my first ever parent-teacher conference and it wasn’t quite as I’d expected.  I don’t really know what exactly I did expect, but I didn’t get whatever it was.

Really, I think I expected Mr. A’s teacher to tell me he was the brilliant child I’ve always known him to be.  I mean, the kid knows everything, he say’s so himself.  I did get a “he is a very bright child,” but somehow it wasn’t enough for me.  They showed me his test scores and he was perfectly average.  Right on target for a boy his age.  Well, he did test slightly above average in reading.  That’s something, right?

Apparently he is bright, helpful and very social (duh).  He also has a knack for knowing exactly what’s going on at every station in his classroom at all times.  I think that takes some kind of special brilliant skill.

I couldn’t help but be disappointed.

I guess I’m just one of those mom’s that really thinks her child is something more.  Something more than just average.

Perfectly average.

Perfectly wonderful.

And handsome.

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I'm Sucking at this Kindergarten Crap

rememberI really hope that the school doesn’t penalize the students for their parents being idiots.  Because if they do, Mr. A. is in BIG trouble!

A permission slip came home last week because his class will be going to the pumpkin patch.  I looked at it and then set it down in a pile.  I have piles everywhere.  Organized chaos….right?  Well Bob took him to school this morning and when he came home he asked “does Anthony have everything he needs for his field trip?”

WHAT?!

Oh shit!

I went frantically digging through piles looking for the permission slip.  I hadn’t ever even returned it.  I was so upset thinking that my little baby was going to be left in his classroom all alone because his mother sucked.  How could he forgive me?

I found the slip in a pile of papers that came from school.  In the pile is a family homework project that I forgot about, too.  Score:  0 -2.  Nice.

Reading the slip I discover that his field trip is NOT today.  Thank GOD!  It’s actually next Tuesday.  BUT, I was supposed to have the slip signed and returned by yesterday.  Oops.

Does this happen to anyone else or am I just particularly lame?  I am supposed to help him with homework about once a week.  I forget.  Papers need to go back to school.  I forget.  I’m supposed to send lunch money to the school.  I forget.  I sign up for snacks…that’s right…I forget.

Can I blame pregnancy brain?

I do have a calendar.  I should use it, but I forget.

I hope I remember to pack him a lunch next Tuesday…

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Would This Bother You?

I picked Mr. A. up from school yesterday.  There are about 10 children that get out on half day at noon.  We pick the kids up at a back gate and the teacher assistant always walks them out to meet us.

Yesterday was no different than any other day until we were leaving.

Mr. A. saw his friend in the front of the school and yelled “Bye ‘Friend’!”

I noticed his friend was on the verge of tears.

I asked him, “…are you okay?  Where is your mommy?”

Friend, “I don’t know, she’s not here!”

I told him we would wait with him that his mommy must just be running a bit behind.

You can see the back gate from the front gate (they are across the playground from each other).  So I told the boys to stay together while I peeked around the building thinking perhaps his mom was over there looking for him.  But nobody was at the back gate.

The little friend was so upset.

We chatted for a few minutes.  Still no mommy.  Nobody seemed to be looking for him at all.

Finally after about 10 minutes, I suggested we go find his teacher.  Perhaps there was a message about his mommy running late or something.  Surely you would think someone was missing this little boy.

I went into the classroom.  The TA was sitting by the door.  I told her, “I have ‘friend’ out here and his mommy isn’t here yet.”

She gets up and is surprised!  She says something, “oh my, I thought he had gone home with his mom!”

She looked rather embarrassed.

Then she gets down to his level, wasn’t mean or anything, but says “why did you go out the front?  You know you are supposed to come out the back gate with your class.  Don’t ever leave your class like that, okay?”

She thanks me profusely and took the little boy around back to look for his mommy.

While I was leaving, I did see his mommy pull into the parking lot. So I was glad to know that she made it.  This was twelve minutes late.

Now, this is my problem:  The school didn’t know this little boy was missing!

What if I hadn’t been me, but had been someone evil?  This little boy could have turned into a statistic!  What if he went wandering looking for his mom and got lost or made it to the street?  I am so freaked out looking back on the whole incident.  I just think, what if it had been Mr. A?  He is super friendly, he would have gone with whoever or where ever looked interesting.

What should I do?  Anything?  Should I mention it to the principle or the teacher?  This TA seems to be well loved and respected and I don’t necessarily want to get her in trouble, but I think this is serious.  Am I over reacting?

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What a Cluster Poo!

I am so freaking annoyed.  I just returned home from the absolute disaster that is Half Day Wednesday in our School District.  The worst part – I had NO idea it was half day, so I was totally unprepared.

Usually, there are about 10 half day kindergartners getting out at noon.  I show up, wait by the door, greet him and leave.  But not today.  No way.  The day that I decide to bring two three year olds with me.

I was actually trying to waste some time so I didn’t show up too early.  I didn’t want to stand outside in the heat and wait.  I have a terrible habit of arriving early everywhere.  So I went to get lunch, went to the bank.  Then I drove to the school.

Holy God!  What are all these cars doing here??!!!

The parking lot was full.  I couldn’t get in and park to go meet Anthony at his classroom.  I drive up and around and down the street.  I turned around and came back.  There is a line of cars out the driveway and down the road.  I had to park THREE BLOCKS away.

Now, three blocks doesn’t sound all that far, but consider I was dragging along two three year olds and it was 103 degrees outside…

Not fun.  Not fun at all.

All red faced and sweaty this fat momma arrived at her son’s classroom.  I asked a lady walking by, “where do I find my kid?”

“Oh, on Wednesdays they get picked up in the front.  You just should have stayed in your car and drove around the circle.”

WTF?  Are you kidding me?? HOW on Earth was I supposed to know this?

I say “I wish I would have known that so I didn’t drag these babies with me down the street in this heat.”

To which she replied, “It should have been in  your welcome packet.  It should have told you what to do on Wednesdays because we have a slight traffic problem, haha.”

Yeah, I would say so.

So I was miffed but was more annoyed at myself for missing this vital piece of information.  I proceeded to the front of the school where I found my son sitting nicely with his class.  We hugged and then made our way back to the car.

By now, BoBo is crying that he want’s to go home.  NayNay has beads of sweat rolling down his face.  I have sweat dripping into my eyes making it hard to see.  Nobody wanted to hold my hand because it was too hot and sweaty to do so.    By the time we get to the car, everyone is crying “I’m HOT!”

Thank goodness we had soda’s in the car from lunch so everyone got a cold drink.

I got home and looked in my welcome packet.  There is not ONE word about Half Day Wednesday pick up procedures.

This is my first week of Kindergarten just as much as it is my son’s.  I wish the school would have better communication with us first timers.  How was I supposed to know that it was any different today?  And, they never told me I needed to send lunch money either…but that’s a different post.  The point is that communication sucks and I hope it gets better because I really want to like this school.

I’ve finally stopped sweating.

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I Survived His First Day of Kindergarten

I didn’t even cry.

I woke up this morning at 6am.  I think I was just as excited as he was.  At 6:30 I started making him breakfast, sausage and eggs with orange juice.  Sausage is his favorite and I knew he would eat it.  At 6:45 I went in and woke him up.

He got up easily.  I know that won’t be the case after a week or so.  He came and laid on the couch while I remade his eggs….the first batch had too much salt and got burned since the pan was too hot.  Momma’s a dork sometimes.  He was full of himself, talking non-stop.  I had to remind him to be quiet so he could eat.

He’s not used to eating breakfast, especially right when he wakes up.  But it’s something he’ll have to get used to I guess.

Got dressed.

Remembered to brush his teeth.

The only time I got misty eyed was while I was sitting on the floor in front of him getting ready to tie his Tony Hawk shoes.  I looked up at him and just watched.  This was my baby.  My smart, obnoxious, beautifully handsome baby.  He’s not a baby anymore.  *sniff*

Grandma came over to see him off and also to watch the little people so that Daddy and Mommy could take him to school for the first time.

What would the first day of Kindergarten be like with out pictures?

First Day of KindergartenkindergartenPIC_0317PIC_0319PIC_0322PIC_0326PIC_0327PIC_0331And a little video, too:

He’s home now. He talked nonstop all the way home about what a great day he had and how much he loved Kindergarten.  I am really happy that he had a great day.  I can’t wait to see the little man that he develops into.