Yikes, Tomorrow?!?!
August 24, 2009
So Friday we got to go to the school, drop off all of the school supplies that we had to purchase*, and see their classrooms. It was an exciting time.
My 10 year old knows three boys in his class, one who is a friend from the neighborhood, one from his football team, and one from god only knows where because this child is a social butterfly and everyone knows him.
My 8 yr old knows no one in his class, but his teacher seems fabulous. And the very best part? I was briefly giving her a heads up that my son is struggling with reading and that at this point I am thinking he has some type of dyslexia. I told her this just to let her know when they cracked open those textbooks he was not going to be able to read them. She said that her classroom has a special ed reading teacher assigned to it because two of the kids in her classroom have services. So the teacher is there in her classroom all day, everyday. She is going to start him working with this teacher on the first day.
My baby girl? She was thrilled to see her name tag on a desk and sit in her chair. She is still nervous.
So tomorrow morning I will be sending them all off on the school bus, their little lunch boxes in hand. Everyone keeps asking if I am going to be sad. Am I going to miss them?
I anticipate that Miles and I will sort of look at each other and wander around the house aimlessly for a little bit. But the time will fill itself and before you know it the time will come for the bus to bring them home. And all those extra hours that I thought I would have to solve world hunger, work for peace, or finally get caught up on the laundry will have been frittered away.
But today I will be running around. Securing last minute school supplies and getting my 7th grader the last immunization he needs. Thank God for the numerous free immunization clinics here. Our pediatrician only does immunizations one day our of the week, when the moon is full, and the breeze is blowing the right way. Apparently TX decided to have extra requirements for incoming K and 7th graders. And I am more than a little peeved* that no one mentioned this to me when I registered them for school months and months ago and now I have to run around like a crazy person today so that he can attend school tomorrow.
Have I mentioned here that I am more than a little sick myself? I have belabored my illness endlessly over at twitter** I have NO voice. At all. Six days ago I began losing my voice and it sounded, according to Susan, “sexy, raspy.” Well it quickly moved to 10 pack a day smoker, then to Tom Waits, then to pubescent boy whose voice is changing***, and finally to not much more than a whisper. I am on a bunch of drugs. So far? No voice. I have some funny no voice stories too.
I would insert some photos of everyone in their new classrooms and my 7th grader looking panicked, but who the hell has time for that today.
*Much MUCH more than a little peeved.
** if you want to follow me on twitter(@chrisjordan) do so at your own risk. I will go for months with out writing anything and then suddenly it is all mucus all the time.
*** I had to sing the Brady Bunch song a few times during this period to amuse my sick self. Remember that episode when the Brady Bunch kids made a record? but Peter’s voice was changing and he kept messing up the song. So they wrote a new song? “When it’s time to change…”
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Hang in there until tomorrow, and then I hope Miles gets all tuckered out by the excitement and you both get to take a nice long nap. I hope you feel better soon.
August 24th, 2009 at 9:44 amyour * note for school supplies purchase is missing and i am jonesing to know what it was going to be!
August 24th, 2009 at 9:48 amHa me too….. I’ve had laryngitis since July 30th…..
August 24th, 2009 at 9:53 amnothing is working. I went to an ENT last Friday, he put a camera down my nose, looked at my vocal cords and says “red and swollen, looks viral…no talking or whispering until its gone”. guess that antibiotic didn’t do any good!
Dude I’ve had this since July!
At least I don’t have rugrats still at home :0).
Good luck with the first day of school.
Sorry to hear about your sickness! I hope you feel better soon, and I bet you’ll be able to get a few more minutes of rest than usual once your kids are off to school!
I hope their first days of school go well, and can’t wait to hear about it!
August 24th, 2009 at 10:03 amI am so excited for you and your kids! I also feel quite weird to be excited for them! And I am hugely impressed (and I will probably offend someone here) at your balanced attitude towards home-schooling. It’s not common at all over here in Ireland and I was under the impression that home-schooled kids were mostly over-protected and socially weird products of parents with major chips on their shoulder or axes to grind. Your blog has changed my mind a LOT.
August 24th, 2009 at 10:07 amJust a supportive note from a fellow “dyslexic”, one of the first things you’ll be asked to do for a child with reading problems is have a basic eye exam. You then may want to do a visual processing examination with a specialist to see if the problem is visual in nature… you can pass a basic eye exam with flying colors but still have trouble *processing* what you see. Schools are great for remedial help, at least where I live lousy for being able to test for what the source of the problem is.
August 24th, 2009 at 10:09 amI was ticked at how much we had to spend on school supplies just sending three back to school (also after homeschooling) so I can imagine the pain of sending twice as many! And I thought I did a good job of scouring all the WalMart/Staples/OfficeMax ads for good deals. I even had to purchase each kid one of those USB flash drive thingys.
THEN! There are “school fees” of 50 bucks a kid as well. Thank god I’m the youngest in my family and get a lot of neice/nephew hand me down clothes!
Love, love, love your blog~hope you get better soon
August 24th, 2009 at 10:13 am“…it’s time to rearrange…”
August 24th, 2009 at 10:18 am“…you’ve got to re-arrange…”
August 24th, 2009 at 10:23 amTdap vaccine? I have had a sea of patients the past two weeks needing the vaccine. His arm will be plenty sore the next day!
August 24th, 2009 at 10:43 amCould it be Cedar Fever?
August 24th, 2009 at 10:50 amWow! Big doins’ around your house. Yeah, the school supply thing pisses me off every year. I help in the classrooms and I see the way the kids treat the supplies since they belong to the “class” and not to them. And really, is my 1st grader going to actually use 15 glue sticks this year???? Ugh.
August 24th, 2009 at 11:03 amSo sorry to hear you are sick. I think it is ridiculous that they did not clue you in about the immunizations. Having a son who is ADHD/Dyslexic - I think you are very lucky to have the situation that you described for your 8 year old son. I do want you to know that our son is now 18, applying to the top colleges in the U.S. and has really become a successful and personally motivated student. Sports has been a huge part of this, and he will be playing baseball in college. I say this not to be an annoying brag, but just to assure you that when I look back at my sobbing self when he was 7, and we realized the reason he could not read, and I despaired that he could ever crack a textbook open, imagining him digging ditches for his bread (not that there is anything wrong with that, but he was so interested in ideas that I just felt horrible as to how those ideas would get into his head if he could not really read). Anyhow, all this to say - great teachers are the world’s most wonderful creatures. The one thing you must do forever is make certain that HE always gets the great ones. Mediocre might be ok for kids who can manage, but mediocre/bad teachers are a disaster for kids with learning issues. I have tips as to how to make that happen if you ever want to know. This comment is too long already, but happy to share anytime….Looking forward to hearing all the adventures.
August 24th, 2009 at 11:05 amYou will be horrified at how quickly those school hours pass - I am always, what already the bus? Why is six hours with all the kids home an eternity some days, and the same time period with no one home goes by in the blink of an eye? Enjoy the school experience and get ready for the mountains of paper that are about to descend on you, as well as fundraising requests, field trip fees, sports fees, etc etc etc!
August 24th, 2009 at 11:12 amOh goodness, my 14 (almost 15) year old has “had a cold” since last fall; I sing that song to him CONSTANTLY. Bad mother that I am. LOL
August 24th, 2009 at 11:31 amFirst day of school here too, freshman and first grade. I thought the elementary supply list and all the dang high school fees were going to kill me. And that’s only two kids, I can’t imagine it times six. I can so understand the peeved. But I hope that you and Miles enjoy your day today!
August 24th, 2009 at 11:55 am“… you’ve got to re-a-RRANGE!! Sha-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na!”
AWESOME.
August 24th, 2009 at 12:01 pmI thought you were going to mention the Brady Bunch episode where Mrs. Brady loses her voice before singing for the church on Christmas…and miraculously (pun intended) regained use of her voice just in time! Oh, so many Brady Bunch memories…
Good Luck with school…we are entering public school for the first time also (4th grade and K).
August 24th, 2009 at 12:02 pmLittle Miss was all excited and she can’t even make it for the first day. Poor thing. Hope she’s feeling better. And you too, of course!
August 24th, 2009 at 12:29 pmHow exciting that the kids are physically attending school. They probably will love it when all the other kids have been going for years and most likely find it boring.
I ALSO have NO voice. Seriously. Add to very sore throat and very sore ears and I have the plague. It’s funny just how much talking we do, isn’t it?
August 24th, 2009 at 12:35 pmOr how about the time Carol was going to sing on Christmas Eve and lost her voice? She pulled through though, as we all knew she would.
August 24th, 2009 at 1:01 pmHi Chris - I’m a long-time reader of your blog and really enjoy it. Just curious what made you decide to stop homeschooling your kids and send them to school outside your home.
August 24th, 2009 at 1:14 pmI remember!
August 24th, 2009 at 1:24 pmI am choosing not to panick over these new and incredibly secret immunization requirements for TX. Maybe when they realize my shiny new kindergartner doesn’t have them, the line at the ped’s office will have gone down.
August 24th, 2009 at 1:45 pmWell, thanks for getting THAT song stuck in my head, Chris! Feel better!
August 24th, 2009 at 1:50 pmYIPPEE! - How exciting, and scary. My two oldest have been buggin’ the crap out of each other lately so I am thrilled to be home alone with the youngest…but do struggle some days knowing they’re going to be gone for 8 hours, 5 days a week. BUT, 3pm does roll around pretty fast and then - wow, I can’t wait for the morning alarm clock to get ‘em off again!
Have a wonderful school year start - and I am so thrilled your son will have the extra incentive/help he needs — as one of the schools we have a child in has no special provisions, and WHEN a child has a need for some additional help - it’s really tough luck (and that’s even what some parents think!)
HUGS!
August 24th, 2009 at 2:18 pmI know it’s none of my business (so if you don’t want to answer I will totally understand), but isn’t Miles kindergarten age? Are you holding him for a year, or homeschooling him for a year? Either way, it will be great for you to have this year with him.
Chris says: Nope he is only four. The age cut off is September 1st, he will not be 5 until December 12.
August 24th, 2009 at 2:41 pmTX Legislature ruled today that we have until the end of Sept to get the shots done. I was **thrilled** to learn this after spending 3 hours at the dr’s office this am getting my 7th grader her shots.
My 5th grader was diagnosed as dyslexic at the end of second grade. At the beginning of 3rd grade his reading level tested at first semester kindergarten - when they aren’t required to know how to read yet. Using the Texas Education dyslexia bundle he finished 4th grade reading at an early 4th grade level. I can’t believe how much ground he made up in 2 years.
They should be able to test your son there at the school during the school day for dyslexia. If he really is, he will be able to have a 504 program which will allow him to be tested in a manner that will accurately show what he knows and not just how he tests (ie my son has all proper names and math word problems read to him and he tests in a quiet room where he is able to concentrate better. he also has the option for additional time if there is a lot of reading involved). Having known my father’s struggle with dyslexia (and being held back twice) its comforting for me to know that the 504 will follow him through high school and into college if need be.
I’ll be sending my final kindergartener off tomorrow morning and for the first time in 15 years, I’ll be alone all day. Not quite sure what I’m going to do with myself.
August 24th, 2009 at 3:29 pmYou will NOT believe how quickly the day goes when they are at school. I always have grand plans on how much I will get done that day and I literally throw a load of laundry in (I don’t even get it folded) and I turn around and it is 2:30 and they are coming home…then the crazy part of the day starts and I haven’t thought of dinner yet!
August 24th, 2009 at 3:40 pmSomeone please tell me where those 6 hours go???
Feel better! Here’s to a great first day of school and you and Miles finding some way to amuse yourself in the ensuing quiet. (Especially since you can’t talk to him!)
August 24th, 2009 at 3:46 pmChris,
So sorry that you are sick at the moment. It could actually be stress related with the kids going off to school for the first time.
This must be an exciting but also sad time for all of you seeing as you have Home Schooled them all so well over all these years. I hope yourself and Miles don’t find yourselves feeling to lost around the place on Monday. (It is just entering Tuesday here in Western Australia, I got up for a drink and sort of got sidetracked). I wish you and them all the very best for their first day and week in school. I look forward to hearing about their school adventures and hope they will be all positive ones for them and yourself.
Take Care and I will be thinking of you all.
August 24th, 2009 at 4:41 pmLots of Love Carolynn xxxx Hugs to all those not too old for them xx
…it’s time to rearrange…
August 24th, 2009 at 5:58 pmI don’t know if buying school supplies is worse than filling out all the paperwork for each child. I can’t stand doing 3 - can’t imagine completing it for twice as many.
August 24th, 2009 at 6:14 pmOhh - good luck and have fun to you all! Hope you don’t get the 3 week wheelies like we’ve had before- where all seems to be going swimmingly then BAM! without warning on week 3 the wheels just seem to fall off - it all catches up with them and they are tired, reality sets in and any tiny issue snowballs….like homework. Or comparing lunchboxes with siblings. Or shoes even! Although looking at your Disney Movie neighbourhood I doubt that would ever happen - I mean teachers visiting?? Is that a Texas thing? What a great way to meet the families though - I wonder if they sneak back to their cars and write reports on where they’ve visited?! “Family 3497-007: Mom v.hvy smoker++. Kids semi clothed-clean but wet.Discipline?? Pests not eradicated. Obvious Catlover due to piss smell in house. 7 KIDS -Cult? Strange religion? Duggar…??-not enough kids. Works “on computer”? “from home’? RED folder alert. Follow up nxt semester”
Have you tried inhaling helium balloons and talking with your “current” voice? You’ll cough your lungs up laughing…
August 24th, 2009 at 7:39 pmGood luck to all the kids. Have fun with Miles.
You start early in TX. We don’t start till after Labor Day here in Jersey. Hope you feel better. Summer colds are terrible. I just got over a double ear and sinus infection. Who needs to feel sick in 90 degree weather?
August 24th, 2009 at 7:41 pmGood luck on holding back the tears. we have sent our kids out into the world of school for many years and i still remember those first few times.
i also hope that everyone gets better soon
August 24th, 2009 at 8:50 pmYes, the house will be eerily quiet. Mine was today as 4 trotted off to school. So do you and the other moms in this fab neighborhood of yours plan on sipping some good wine and celebrating the start of the new school year?
August 24th, 2009 at 9:10 pmJust curious, will your 7th grader be in middle school (6-8) or Jr. High (7-9)? For what ever reason it seems like middle school would be an easier transition than jr. high.
August 24th, 2009 at 9:50 pmAbout the immunizations?! (we live in Austin). I KNOW! Us too! My 7th grader’s class schedule was “held” as I raced around last week (school starts tomorrow) trying to get him the new meningitis vaccination. Yeah, they couldn’t have told us sooner. $154 for the shot because our insurance won’t cover that one until October. Sweet. And another thing…the stack of other “held” class schedules at the nurse’s table at registration was about 3 feet high…suggesting to me that someone (the NURSE) should’ve seen this coming and saved all of us some last-minute misery by a teensy bit of advance-notice! Gah.
August 24th, 2009 at 10:13 pmschool supplies- UGH. my 1st grader needed THIRTY glue sticks. My 3rd grader was quick to point out that means the 1st grade class needs 780 glue sticks! (and then there’s 4 first grades! - over THREE THOUSAND GLUE STICKS!!!!) seriously. Lets not argue about the ones which need the GIANT glue sticks which cost more than 30 little ones put together. sigh.
and I have a teacher that asked for FLAIR pens. I dont think they even make those anymore.
I cant imagine school supplies for 6. satisfying 4 teachers about killed me.
August 24th, 2009 at 11:15 pmThe best of luck to all tomorrow!
August 24th, 2009 at 11:23 pmHeh, I always decscribe my singing “talents” like that . . not that it stops me, at least when I’m alone!
If the laryngitis continues, have the doc check, it could be polyps. Which CAN just resolve on their own with plenty of voice-rest, though that’s hard to get when you’re a mom!
August 25th, 2009 at 6:41 am“when it’s time to change, you’ve got to re-arrange, move your heart to what you’re gonna be, sha na na na na na na na na, sha na na na na!”
You can hear the song at this site:
http://new.music.yahoo.com/brady-bunch/tracks/time-to-change–479297
Hope you get your voice back soon, that happened to me when we vacationed in Florida in March.
August 25th, 2009 at 7:50 amYou mean we’re supposed to use the time away from the children to get caught up on laundry?
Damn - there goes my ideas of eating bon bons and watching Oprah.
My middle boy (my social butterfly is as well - he’s like the mayor - knows everyone) is dyslexic. I have some great sites and some strategies we’ve come across if you want them. His issue is spelling memorization and math facts. Texas also has some freat resources through the schools.
August 25th, 2009 at 9:49 amYou start with school tomorrow? You lucky duck!!!!
I’m cracking up here that you are referring to a song by the Brady Bunch - and your commentors are adding lines.
I’m off to YouTube to find this song you speak of as I don’t remember them singing at all - (and I am older than you!)
Get better soon!
August 25th, 2009 at 9:56 amDon’t you just love the internet?
That song was dreadful - realllllllly dreadful.
But I don’t remember it at all!
Did you know that they were only on for five seasons? Seemed like longer to me!
August 25th, 2009 at 10:01 amI love the Brady Bunch so much I bought several seasons on DVD for my kids who love it too. It is much better than any tv on today - i sound like my parents!!!
August 25th, 2009 at 1:55 pmI hate to tell you this now but you don’t have to send all of the school supplies at once.
August 26th, 2009 at 10:34 pm