Back to school...almost 4 weeks ago!

OK, OK, OK, I know it's been four weeks since I've blogged. It's not that I've forgotten...life is just so darn busy! Right? You know how I feel...busy busy busy. SO...

The kids started back to school on Sept. 3rd...after Labor Day. The big deal this time is that Sam started middle school. Freaked me out. Completely. I almost totally lost it. Well, not quite, but almost. Here he is on the first day of school as I was dropping him off. Just one hour before my nervous breakdown. I don't know why he's squinting like that. Did he know I was going to lose it? More about that later...




Here's Caleb starting his first day of 4th grade. Boy, was he ever so excited to have me take his picture. Can you tell? Can you feel his enthusiasm? And don't think for a second he let me give him a kiss or hug. After I snapped his picture he gave me a quick wave as he turned around and mumbled, "C'ya later".
"What?!" I called after him, "No kiss or hug good-bye?!"
As he quickly scrambled away, he glanced back with a look of horror and his eyes rolling at the same time. You know that look. Picture eyes rolling into the back of his head with a horrified expression at the same time. Yeah, that's all I got for hours of painfully induced non-epidural labor.



Here's Peter. Such a cutie on his first day of 1st grade. He's the only one who let me kiss and hug him good-bye so he gets to be called a cutie in this post. Notice his shirt says: Help Wanted, do my homework. 'Cause you know, first graders have SO much homework. And it's all so hard. All that calculus and statistics and what-not.
The good news is that all 3 kids are in school all day now! Yea! Woo hoo! The day I've been waiting for for so many years!
But where the heck does the time go? I swear, after I teach a class or two, or three, I have time to run home, take a shower, eat lunch, check my email and then it's time to go pick up the kids! Where's the justice? But enough about me...on to my nervous breakdown. Oh yeah, that's about me, too.


So the traffic in and out of the middle school (which is also connected to the high school) is completely insane. It's backed up forEVER in both directions. There is NO way to get Sam dropped off and then get the other 2 to their school on time. SO. Other parents told me about a back entrance where you drive around the back of the school and drop off at a dead end street. They said there's a little wooded path that leads right to the back entrance of the middle school. Cool. I'm all for it. Or so I thought.

I easily found the dead end street and the wooded path. I couldn't quite see the school through the woods but I was sure it was there. I take Sam's picture, wish him well, and off he goes through the forest. I drive away with the other 2 kids and think all is well. THEN...my mind started racing. What if I dropped him off at the wrong place? What if he got lost in the woods? What if some high school kids are smoking dope in the woods and offer him some? Or worse, what if they steal his milk money?

I told myself that these were all completely irrational thoughts and that Sam was probably sitting in his homeroom just fine. I took Caleb and Peter to their school and did the whole picture thing while telling myself that Sam was just fine. He was fine. I'm sure he's just fine, right? I relayed my worries to one or two other moms at the elementary school who, of course, reassured me that he was probably just fine.

Well, I lasted exactly one hour and then I couldn't take it anymore. I knew I was going to worry myself sick all day until I knew Sam was safely in school. With his milk money.
So I called the school. I didn't want to, but I had to. I just had to. I navigated through the automated answering options to get the secretary. Our conversation went like this:
Sec.: "Middle school office..."

Me: "Hi, I'm really sorry to bother you. I'm sure you're very busy today...and I'm really embarrassed to be calling you...but I'm a first time middle school parent and I'm freaking out because I let my son walk alone a little ways to school today and now I'm worrying about whether or not he got there OK..."

Sec.: she chuckles politely and makes reassuring sounds...

Me: "So...if he wasn't there, you guys would like call me or something, right? I mean, you take attendance and all, right?"

Sec.: "Certainly, we take attendance right away and if a child is absent we always call the middle school parents first."

Me: "Oh, OK. So, he's probably there and he's probably just fine...right?"

Sec.: "Oh I'm sure he's just fine. Not to worry."

pause...
pause...
pause...

Me.: "Yeah, I know I just worry too much. He's probably totally fine. Right? He's fine, don'tcha think? There's no reason to worry...he's probably fine. Right?"

pause...
longer pause...

Sec.:in a sweet but slightly exasperated tone "Why don't you give me his name and homeroom teacher's name and I will check on it. If there is a problem I will call you."

Me: in a much relieved tone "Oh, gee, that would be SO great! Thank you so much!"

I never got a call so I assumed that all was well. Whether or not she really checked on him...well, we'll never know. I never told Sam any of this...he knows I already worry too much. If I told him this story he wouldn't be surprised at all but I don't want him to know, yet.
A week or so later I was talking to another middle school parent who said that her son was a minute or two late to homeroom and was marked as absent. The office did call home to alert the parents...2 1/2 hrs. LATER! Geez, that's a long time! This kid's mom was like, "WHAT?! My kid isn't there?! I dropped him off over 2 hours ago?" So then they had to go find him and make sure he was indeed in school. Talk about a heart attack. She worries too much, though. She should definitely see a therapist about that...
FYI, I walked the wooded path myself to see how it was. It's like maybe 30 yards long and there were lots of kids walking through it. After the first day/nervous breakdown, I would make Sam call me after he walked through and reached the school. Now I'm feeling OK with the whole thing and don't make him call me anymore. Whew! Baby steps. (For me).