Scrapperblog: First Day of School

Sorry I didn't post this last night or respond to emails or voice mail messages. Work was WORK yesterday. By the time I got home I was too exhausted to barely talk. It was enough for me to carry on a conversation with Mikey asking him how his day went.

First day of school for the Mikey Moo! It went well for him. I took him in to work with me, like we'd planned. He played on the computer while I got ready for my class. I walked him to the breakfast line and helped him pick out his food. He's such a big boy- I knew he'd have no trouble at all with this.

I sat him down next to his friend Bryan and they were having a conversation. Bryan's grandma came to walk him to class since Bryan's mom is also a teacher at our school and would be in her class. I asked Bryan's grandma to watch out for Mikey was well and we chatted a bit. She said something about how hard it was for her to watch her kids go to school and it just tripped something inside me and I could feel the tears coming on.

I quickly told Mikey I'd see him after school, kissed his little head, and almost ran down the hall to my classroom so he wouldn't see me cry. And I just lost it. My co-teacher was there and we stood in the hall waiting for our kids together. We also saw the pre-schoolers filing into the classroom and Mikey was right there, acting like he'd always been there. He didn't see me, but I saw him and was so proud of the little tyke. Then all of a sudden my class was here. And my eye makeup was running down my face.

I fessed up and told the kids that I was not crying tears of joy over their arrival. We had a nice laugh and the day was started. I poked my head into the pre-school room once, when my kids were at recess, and he was doing fine. I watched him pick up the play phone and yell, "Somebody call 911 or something!" LOL

After school I picked him up and he was a little worried that all his stuff from his backpack was missing. I told him that his things would stay at school so he could use them there. We have every art supply imaginable at home (thanks, Sheila!) so it's not like he won't be able to color or anything.

He was a little spitfire all evening long, which was the opposite for me. I was dead, exhausted, beyond tired. My feet hurt all the way up to my thighs. I'd forgotten how hard those floors were. And I was up and around all day and just not used to it yet. Talking was really hard for me last night, for some reason. I guess I do tend to do the most talking to my kids on the first day. That's where I lay out the rules and procedures and we get to know each other and everything.

I have a few challenges this year, I think. Biggest challenge will be the little girl who came in full make up, with hot pink lipstick. The mom in me wanted to tell her to wash it off, but the teacher in me sensed that I'd need to pick my battles.

Another challenge is the boy who physically shakes all day and every piece of paper he gets is instantly curled and crumpled or torn and eaten. Imagine seeing the world through the lens of a video camera that is being operated by, lets say, my Four Year Old. This boys attention is all over the room.

And then there's the girl who is in speech and I almost needed a translator to understand her speech. I felt frustrated because I really wanted to hear what she had to say, but I just haven't been around her long enough to figure out her particular articulation patterns.

For the most part yesterday went well. Yes, I was a crybaby. No, I didn't fall asleep at my desk. Yes, the kids showed up. No, I didn't lose any of them. Welcome to school year 2005-2006. :-)