Wednesday, August 11, 2004

first-day-of-school eve

...
A day of running around and accomplishing little. "Meet your teachers" was too haphazard for my taste -- people coming and going, having to accomplish a variety of different goals all at the same time. I look forward to the more structured curriculum nights where the teachers will present what/how they're going to teach for the year. That's too much to go into during these meet-and-greet sessions.

DS1's teacher is only a few inches taller than he is. Well, she may actually be physically bigger than that, but overall, she projects an image of "petite". I'm curious to see how she does with a class full of 24 2nd graders. She mentioned a few things about how she runs the class and it sounds like she has a good philosophy regarding treats/rewards, etc... we'll see how it goes. Last year, DS1's teacher was really into rewards and such. It bothered me, and I had to make a conscious effort to just let it go. DS1 learned a lot in that class, but not because of all the treats. That's not how he's motivated, so I didn't have to worry about that past my initial concern about it. The reward thing probably won't be an issue this year, it's looking like...

DD has the same teacher for kindergarden as DS1 had. Mr B is a splendid teacher, all the moreso because he's a MAN. There is a special place in heaven for men who teach young children. He has the patience of more than one saint... it is a relief for me, really, because it's one less teacher I have to get to know. Now I have a few weeks to get to know DS1's teacher before DS2's school starts on Sept 1...

I have so much to do this evening. More paperwork (emergency contact cards) to fill out, supplies to sort out for DS1 and DD, backpacks to load up, custard to make for breakfast. The laundry is just about done, I just have some folding to do... I should be able to finish all and get into bed at a decent hour. I'm aiming for 11PM, which if I make it, will be a miracle. But I need to get up at 7 so I can help with the getting-out-the-door process.

DS2 will be lonely in the morning, but I think it will go by quickly. DD gets out at 11:30. We'll pick her up and then have lunch, and give her time to talk about her day and decompress before we get DS1 at 3:15. There are going to be a lot of short hauls over the next 10 months, but I knew that when I put them into this school! We'll see how it goes.

Now, I seem to have lost the Fran McCulloch cookbook with my favorite custard recipe. How could I lose a cookbook?! I have an entire bookcase of them in the kitchen! Where else could it be? I'm annoyed. I may have to go with another recipe and risk DS1 not liking it as much. Grrrrrr.... this is what I get for waiting until the last minute!

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