Chaos, Frustration, Fun, Learning... Wow must be the first day of School!

First Day of School

My little man is growing up so fast. Wade started Kindergarten today. Oh Boy' what a day! To back up a little bit his school, in my opinion, is very disorganized. As a Kindergarten parent I have felt like they really are clueless. Every time I have called to ask a question I have been talked to like I was stupid for not knowing, things like when's the open house... simple questions right?! Wrong, the answer I got was "well you will get a postcard in the mail, you know it comes right before school starts" I was like yea no I don't know cause I started the conversation with "My son is starting Kindergarten". Needless to say we have had a rough start. Turns out they don't have an "open house" prior to school starting all they have is a "meet the teacher" which they do on a Friday at 8:30 in the morning because clearly parents in this neighborhood don't work... They also did not release the school supply list until the last minutes so it was slim pickins when we finally got it and were able to get to the store to get the supplies. It wasn't until 2 weeks prior to school starting that they even updated the web page with the 2011/12 school schedule. Really.. and my child is going to this school! WOW... I am having a really hard time with this. But as my teacher friends have pointed out, the Teacher and the student are the real "tell all", you can have a crappy school with an excellent teacher and a good student and have great results. So I am hoping that is the case.

On to today... the first day, for first time Mom and Dad. Doors open at 750 to get in the main building, classrooms open at 805 (class starts at 820) so we left the house at 750 not knowing what to expect. We get there and find a parking spot when we realize that we forgot the paperwork that he needed and had to go home to get it (good thing we are only a block away from the school). So we go home get the papers and come back to mass chaos. No parking, everyone seems to have come in in the 3 minutes it took us to go home and come back. When we finally find a spot along the road we take Wade in the main door and over to his Kindergarten class. He was SO excited to show me his cubby, his hook, where the bathroom was, his classroom, and introduce me to his teacher (I wasn't able to go to "meet the teacher"). And away he went, like we weren't even there... no good bye, no hugs, no kisses, nothing... just away into the classroom. Guess it's safe to say he adjusts well to new surroundings!

What amazed me the most is that the Parents can't read or follow directions, it's a great thing we are sending our kids to school to assist the future generation with this epidemic. They clearly stated that the main parking lot is for the staff, and drop off car line only, no stopping, no parking... yet people were all over it, stopped everywhere, bus lane... who cares... no parking...who cares... it was embarrassing to watch. The good thing I guess about his school is that it is in the middle of a very large development so there are really no "buses" the kids zoned to it are all local.

Pick up time for Kindergarten is 315 so George and I were back there right at 315 to get him. While we were waiting for him we had one of "those moments", another mom was standing by us and she started chatting. She asked the basics, do you have a boy or a girl, who's his teacher and then she said "is he an only child"... Oh the questions you just don't want to answer... Say No, but his brother passed away and you get the pity looks and the conversations ends... say Yes and it's like you are betraying Bryce... I HATE that we are left in this position...No he is not an only child, his brother died from Cancer... Hug your kids as they get home from school today and pray for the kids and families that didn't get a chance to go. As the kids started coming out Wade was walking with the teacher, hugging her good bye as he came over to us... he's too cute! He told us that he had a really good time, they went to the playground for a little bit, they got to go to Music class, he made new friends (although he says he doesn't know their names because they didn't tell him). He liked lunch because he had the "coolest lunchbox" it's Lightning McQueen. I think it is going to be a good year for him. Structure, organization, a little bit of normalcy...something our house has not seen in the last 2 years.

Post school today has been rough. Wade has been very out of line, acting up at Target, screaming and running around at Schlotsky's and refusing to go to bed. George and I are about at our wits end with the bed time thing tonight. He will not stay in his room, running back into our room and acting like a mad man. But he won't lay down in our room either, he is clearly tired as he dozes off for a few seconds then bolts straight up and starts jumping on the bed and acting all crazy again. It's almost 10pm and he is still in our hallway screaming at us and slamming the wall. He says he is lonely and doesn't want to sleep in his room, which concerns me, but then he won't lay down with us either so I think it's a game... SUPER NANNY... NANNY 911 someone PLEASE help. Love this kid, but right now i'm about to rip my hair out... (Just for the record he doesn't usually do this, he is pretty good about going to sleep, he has a TV in his room and a ton of toys, so he usually just goes in kisses and hugs and that's that)...

In front of the school at "meet the teacher"

In the classroom at "meet the teacher"

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. ~William Arthur Ward