Scenes from the Afternoon
August 26, 2009
The kids all came home from school shouting their stories over each other. I really am not certain anymore what the hell they actually did all day since most of the stories seemed to involve non schooly things, like earning tickets for behaving. I still have no voice, as in no voice AT ALL above a whisper so I really couldn’t ask that many questions.
I would like to say that I am embracing the silence and learning to listen to my inner voice, you know all the new age crap. But really alll I have learned is that I like to talk. A LOT. And that gesticulating wildly does not have the same effect on my children as shouting. Also, my charades skills can use some work.
What did Miles and I do? We watched vintage Sesame Street videos on youtube. We made miis. And then watched the miis march in a parade over and over again. We tidied up the house. He was never more than two steps behind me at any given point during the day.
We baked cookies.
But don’t be too impressed they are the kind that you buy for fundrasiers and are already made and frozen into tiny discs . So I literally baked them and that was it.
But the kids don’t seem to care either way.
My 10 year old son insisted that he was not tired. Not one little bit! This is him on the way to football practice, moments after he had declared he was NOT TIRED SO STOP ASKING HIM THAT. Ah yes, that is the look of wide awake right here.
I can not believe the amount of paperwork I got home yesterday. Holy crap, I apologize to my fututre grandchildren for the complete lack of forests in the future. All the trees were chopped down to send home endless IDENTICAL notices.
I filled everything out. Stuck it all back in their folders and backpacks. Wrote out checks, this free public education has become very pricey.
My 8th grade son had homework. For himself AND ME. Two teachers had questionaires with getting to know your child type questions. Which is all well and good except when said child is being a royal pain in the ass and I am tempted to just scrawl across the entire paper GOOD LUCK.
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I literally snort-laughed, out loud, at the last sentence. Nicely done!!!
August 26th, 2009 at 10:05 amCongratulations, you have survived the first day of school!
I wish I could tell you the avalanche of paper stops. Sadly, it does not.
August 26th, 2009 at 10:08 amI have two kids at the same school. When we went to the required registration, we received two identical gigantic packets with thick handbooks and calendars and dozens of forms. I sat for thirty minutes and filled out the forms and then the kids BOTH brought home identical forms/handbooks/packets yesterday! Why are they wasting the paper and wasting the money???? Oh, and those stupid biographies of your child… Do the teachers actually read them?
August 26th, 2009 at 10:17 amI know it’s off topic, but what a gorgeous kitchen!!!
August 26th, 2009 at 10:18 amOMGosh!!! I LOVE your kitchen!!! It looks huge and with an island and plenty of cabinet space. Plus your kids are beautiful. I hope your voice comes back…I had a friend who lost hers and had to go to therapy to have her vocal cords massaged back into place-you’re welcome.
August 26th, 2009 at 10:18 amHe he, welcome to public school. The paperwork will kill you if the insane schedules or amount of crap you have to pay for don’t get you first.
August 26th, 2009 at 10:23 amNope, free education isn’t free at all!
Wait til they start the fundraisers. Those totally suck. Just offer to write the school a check to save yourself from selling a bunch of crap to all your neighbors who are also trying to unload the same crap themselves.
Glad they had a great day!
August 26th, 2009 at 10:24 amI’m sitting here LOL at that last sentence :)))
August 26th, 2009 at 10:24 amI’m with you on the tree thing…why can’t they send home a copy only to the oldest? I don’t need multiple copies!
August 26th, 2009 at 10:31 amWell, you do know that 8th grade is the year of painassery.
August 26th, 2009 at 10:39 amAt my kids’ school, they sent home a form last week and asked us to pick one child who gets all the school-wide paperwork (in an effort to save paper). The irony? They sent home that form with both kids, of course. Hey, I’ve not been reading your site long enough (about a year, found it from a link on Melissa’s page to your food column — by the way, please tell me that’s not the freelance job that laid you off b/c I love most of your recipes!–) to know the homeschooling story. I’d love to read it sometime, do you have a link to old references? I used to think homeschooling was only for religious extremists or total hippies, but I have a good friend and another neighbor who homeschool and now have a totally different perspective. Anyway, hang in there. THe first three weeks of school are insane and annoying even for those of us who’ve been doing it all along.
Were they excited to go back today?
Chris says: YES!!!
August 26th, 2009 at 10:39 amI know at my son’s school they hate sending you 10 copies as much as you hate getting them and if you contact them, they will make sure it only goes home in the youngest (apparently older kids lose things/don’t give it to the parents) folder only so you receive just one copy of things.
August 26th, 2009 at 10:39 amI was wondering how you were dealing with all that paperwork — i was complaining and i only have 2 boys. I also have to write a letter about my 8th grade son for his science class.
My biggest question is — with technology why do we have to fill out all these forms?! Web based would be so much less time consuming.
August 26th, 2009 at 10:55 amYeah, agree on the paperwork. My kids haven’t even STARTED yet and we have stacks and stacks of it already. Geez.
Karen
August 26th, 2009 at 10:56 amGlad they had a good first day! Your kitchen looks GORGEOUS! Hope you’re enjoying your new home.
August 26th, 2009 at 11:21 amGood Luck! OMG!! Too funny.
On the first day of school, all of the forms are my homework. Kid loves coming home to tell me I have to sit at the table and do my homework or no snack. It’s tradition.
I have to agree, that kitchen looks fantastic. I want one!
August 26th, 2009 at 11:56 amI always say summer vacation is for the parents, because it’s such a nice break from filling out paperwork and writing checks. Someone once asked me how I have time to garden with four children and a full-time job. I told them it’s because I garden in the summer, when there’s no school paperwork.
August 26th, 2009 at 11:57 amLast year, our son’s school started emailing most forms home. It really cut down on the paper footprint!
August 26th, 2009 at 12:02 pmThe backpacks in the first picture crack me up. I see that they have remained cool all day with not carrying them on their backs. When I was in school it was only cool to wear it over one shoulder, like the other kid in the pic. It will be interesting to see where it ends up in the next few months. Keep us posted.
August 26th, 2009 at 12:05 pmI definitely agree that there is just TOO MUCH paperwork being sent home (and often more than once). Schools need to think about getting those forms online!
But I have to chime in and say that I LOVE your new kitchen — the huge island, the double ovens, all that counter space, tons of cabinets, and what looks like a bar area that connects with the sunny nook? Wow!
August 26th, 2009 at 12:08 pmGlad everyone had a good time. What about your baby girl?? What did she think? Did she make 8,000 new friends? Does she still love her teacher?
August 26th, 2009 at 12:31 pmYeah, free public education. This is our first year with it, too, and I only have the one going. Still homeschooling the others means I deal with it all day and all evening, too. Fun.
After being asked over and over by the coach to play football and I agree, he tells me yesterday that he has to buy his “spirit pack” and it’s $250. No one told me that. He kept saying it’s for the pads. I thought those were the school’s and we were just using them? And the $99 cleats, receivers gloves…this is gonna end up costing more than baseball, and I already HAVE all the baseball stuff. Sheesh.
August 26th, 2009 at 12:33 pmI’m usually a lurker but I had to join the others to say your kitchen looks amazing. And how exciting for the kids. A whole new adventure. Mine starts Kindergarten tomorrow.
August 26th, 2009 at 12:38 pmI miss a lot of things now that all of my children are in college…but the one thing I do not miss is all the freaking paperwork.
August 26th, 2009 at 12:46 pmOur elementary school had an “oldest and only” policy for paperwork, which helped cut down a little bit. Also (after school had started), they sent home all of the paperwork in a “Friday folder”, so you knew what day to look thru your kid’s backpack.
My oldest (eek) is headed to college on Friday, and the university is trying to go “paperless”.
August 26th, 2009 at 12:48 pmYou’re more organized than me. Every day last week my son handed me another sheet that I “forgot to sign” (like the page in the handbook that I’m supposed to sign saying I read the handbook. Yeah, like I really read it). I finally went through the gigantic folder I got at the open house for my daughter’s 1st grade class and found all the stuff I was supposed to sign and send in on the first day of school. This week was the beginning of the 3rd week. The funniest part is how they make a big deal about being paperless and that they’ll send it all through e-mail unless you don’t have e-mail. Except they send it anyway.
August 26th, 2009 at 1:01 pmYou crack me up…& your kitchen is beautiful!
August 26th, 2009 at 1:11 pmAre the grades 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th?
August 26th, 2009 at 1:40 pmOur PTO tried to get our elementary school (grades k-5) to send papers home with the youngest child. We were told they had tried to send home with the oldest, and got too many complaints about parents not getting papers. The principal thought maybe sending with youngest would fix that problem. I think after one month of sending the newsletter (sent monthly & at least 15 pages), the secretary said she had too many complaints of parents not getting the newsletter. I personally think the secretary is too set in her ways & too lazy to just send to one child per household. Also, hello, put the newsletter on the school website & then the parents can check it there if they really want to read 15 pages from the principal and about what the PTO is doing! Sounds like this isn’t just a problem in our district…
August 26th, 2009 at 1:47 pmLaughing so hard at that last crack. At our school, they call it the “Hopes and Dreams” form (as in what are your hopes and dreams for your child this year. After my third orientation meeting (same info x 3 kids) I wondered aloud to one of my friends, “Do you think it is bad form to say you have no hopes and dreams or “I hope he will not lose every single lunch box and sweatshirt he brings from home?” Welcome to school life!!
August 26th, 2009 at 2:01 pmThanks for the last line! Made my day. Also made me glad September 8th isn’t here just yet (Virginia’s King’s Dominion Law has school start after Labor Day).
August 26th, 2009 at 2:03 pmWhile I’m thrilled to get the school updates (like, I actually really am. . . which is weird considering I don’t even have kids myself), I’m mostly thrilled that we finally have some glimpses of your new house! You’re such a tease!
August 26th, 2009 at 2:11 pmThe paperwork is overwhelming for one, I can only imagine for 6 of them!
August 26th, 2009 at 2:39 pmThat last part was really funny. And as for vintage Sesame? Try this one: “A loaf of bread, a container of milk, and a stick of butter.”
August 26th, 2009 at 3:09 pmI have to download and print out a bunch of paperwork from the school’s website; it’s all due September 1. Which is great and all except for the part where we do not have a working printer right now.
I got one of those questionnaires, too, but only about ONE kid. And it asked if there was anything the teacher should know about the family that might affect that kid, so I told her about my OTHER kid and what a pain he is. Someone needs to know.
Chris says: trust me if any of the other kids brought home these questionnaires I would have told them ALL about this particular kid. Because you are right, someone needs to know.
August 26th, 2009 at 3:30 pmI had to laugh at the last part. My son seems to act like a pill on the days I need to fill those surveys out. His teacher this year is moving to 3rd grade from Kindergarten. I’m going to tell her to treat him like her former Kindergarten class and they’ll be fine.
August 26th, 2009 at 3:40 pmMy daughter’s school sends home those kinds of papers to “oldest and onlies.” So, if you have several kids only the oldest brings it home. Suggest that to your school and save some trees!
August 26th, 2009 at 4:06 pmA couple years ago, my eldest son’s teacher finally asked me face-to-face “What’re the odds you’re gonna fill this out?” I am, you see, NOT in the running for mother-of-the-year when it comes to superfluous paper work. I didn’t say “slim-to-none,” but the superfluous stuff stopped coming home….When I asked Beanstalk if he cared or was embarrassed, he said “Nope” with a grin that said he wouldn’t do it either…and his Dad? Forget it. BTW, I prefer “nonconformist” to “delinquent.”
August 26th, 2009 at 4:19 pmwhats with the boys long hair…..I’m loving it. They are so beautiful.
August 26th, 2009 at 4:24 pmThey should have the option of doing all of the paperwork online - that way if you have more than one child, all of the relevant info could be carried over too, saving you time and the school money and supplies.
August 26th, 2009 at 4:38 pmI can only imagine the chaos at your house while they all tell you about their day! I only have two kids and they would always talk over each so much that I really didn’t hear anything! (That’s probably the only thing I like about our journey into staggered start times–they each get their own turn to chatter.)
I’ve definitely had more homework than my kids so far. Actually, my son has two 100s in his class–the grade he got for turning in MY work. Craziness.
August 26th, 2009 at 4:45 pmYES! on all that paperwork. For my son’s middle school, I write his name, address, etc. 10 times–and this is the third year he’s gone to that school! Some of my little kids’ teachers have started blogs, which saves on all kinds of papers.
August 26th, 2009 at 4:47 pmI had to write a “getting to know you” ESSAY for my freshman daughter’s French teacher. Thank goodness she said it could be emailed to her, as I type so much that I can’t really write by hand anymore. And the fees, oh lord, the fees. Aren’t all kids guaranteed a FREE public education? In AZ it was mostly free, in CO not so much. Next year I’ll know to save up for the beginning of the “free” next year.
August 26th, 2009 at 4:56 pmRoared with laughter at the last bit — as a teacher I would LOVE to get back a form that said that, and I would totally understand (I have one of those kids, too.)
As for free education — HA! I have 2 kids in school and last year’s supply list ran us almost $100. Then the fundraisers began — crazy. So far we only have one supply list for this year and it was more reasonable, but did ask for a box of tissues, prompting my 8 year old to ask, “Will we be crying?”
August 26th, 2009 at 5:49 pmI wouldn’t mind the forms so bad if someone with a little common sense designed them…I signed one form THREE times, the last time verifying that everything above was TRUE and ACCURATE. I guess that last signature trumped the previous two!
August 26th, 2009 at 6:48 pmI’m glad I’m not the only mother of an 8th grader who’s a royal pain in the ass.
August 26th, 2009 at 6:55 pmFor my 2nd grader- who is that strong willed child like your eldest- we were asked on our questionnaire:
What are your goals for your child’s education?
What kind of question is that or a 2nd grader??!
DH’s response: “To get to 3rd grade with minimal property damage”.
August 26th, 2009 at 7:09 pmWow! It’s nice to know they can still look cute while sleeping at age 10. Sometimes you need to be able to observe them looking angelic even for a few minutes, or you might just give them away.
In regards to those questionaires, teachers do read them and get a lot of valuable information that way especially if the child is acting out about something. I guess maybe we are just hoping they aren’t permanently going to stay that way, and so we know to give them some space. I was just talking to another teacher who does them about what she discovered this year, and it made me wish I had sent a similar form home.
I had to fill out my kinder child’s for the first time, so I try to be honest without actually saying he’s hell bent. I try to put things euphemistically: wild=enthusiatic, short-fused=easily frustrated, will make you want to wear ear plugs=social.
August 26th, 2009 at 7:36 pmIs it bad I did fill out the paper with sarcasm? My district does this snap code thing - they sent letter (three) with a code and how to register online. I filled out the high school kids’ paper work - that form magically filled in the same information for the other two. Then I got to press “send” and it all went to the district. It was so easy. That is the ONLY thing that is easy about this district.
August 26th, 2009 at 8:21 pmGot to love the mommy homework we start tomorrow and i know the forms will be flying
love the table even more in the new house.
August 26th, 2009 at 8:23 pmOthers have touched on it, but let me add that I hate those “tell me about your child” assignments. I have yet to meet a teacher at the fall conference who gave any indication whatsoever that they read or remembered any of what I bothered to tell them. I even had one teacher make a comment that would have been completely unnecessary had they read the ever so important “help me know your child” fact sheet. I have 3 kids and we currently range from grade 3 to 7, so that’s a lot of teachers who don’t seem to pay much attention. I rarely fill them out anymore. And I would be just the type to write something like you suggested!!!
Glad they’re all having fun. Enjoy your days, you’re right, the time is short.
August 26th, 2009 at 8:41 pmLaughing at the Free part, this is year is going to make you broke.
August 26th, 2009 at 10:37 pmMy elementary school used to send home only one copy of newsletters/notices with the oldest child of each family to save on paper costs - and this was back in the early 90’s when environmental issues weren’t as publicized! They had a small slip attached to the bottom of each one that had to be signed and returned so they knew that the parents actually did get said newsletters in case the kids “forgot”.
August 27th, 2009 at 12:59 amI love the “Good Luck” comment. I laughed at that almost as much as the time your oldest son told you to “Go For It”
August 27th, 2009 at 1:50 amYou obviously have hidden cameras in my house and are simply reporting what goes on in MY life, rather than telling tales of your own children. Your post has been my life for the past two weeks. Except for the no-voice part. I’ve got mine, and I’m using it. Usually to bark orders at three boys. Even the “not-tired-10-yr.-old-falling-asleep-on-the-way-to-football-practice” was a complete deja vu. And your closing sentence was hilarious. I will never fill out another getting-to-know-your-precious-child questionnaire without remembering what you wrote. Priceless!
August 27th, 2009 at 9:23 amYou make me laugh! Thank you for sharing your world…kinks and all!
August 27th, 2009 at 11:31 amThat last sentence is the BEST. Unfortunately, I think I was *that* kid to my parents.
And I saw your bananas in the bowl and thought, “I guess she’ll need to make her banana bread pudding soon!”
August 27th, 2009 at 2:22 pmI laughed SO HARD at your last sentence!!!!
PS–Show more pics of your new house! It looks gorgeous!
August 27th, 2009 at 6:37 pmI would KILL for paperwork. My son starts next Thursday (I think?!) and I have not received one iota of paper telling me when or where or what I should be doing. British paper-saving perhaps?!
August 27th, 2009 at 6:40 pm