Our Family: Firsts

This was the first week of school for both the girls and me. I'm happy to say that, although we are adapting to a number of changes, we survived. We also experienced a number of "firsts." When our sitter informed us that she couldn't return this year, Les and I weighed our options. We decided that Lacey might enjoy the on-site daycare at her school. And, if Cassie participated in after-school Taekwondo, it would free up some of our evenings. So now, for the first time in several years, I don't have to make the bed before I leave for work. I don't have to worry about leaving personal mail on the kitchen table. I don't have to stress about being late for work because the sitter was late. I don't have to worry that the house might be left open. I don't have to come home to a kitchen full of dirty dishes!

Tuesday, the first day of school, all went well. I was worried that I might have to coax Lacey through the early morning routine. But, she was up at 5:30, moving at full speed. I actually had time to treat myself to a dose of Sally Hansen hand lotion, which promised to soften my hands and strengthen my cuticles. I even allowed myself to fantasize about how nice my hands might look by the end of the week if Lacey continued to cooperate. . .

Les had stayed home to make sure that all went well for Cassie on her first day. Armed with a hair brush, lip gloss, mirror and other school essentials, Cassie confronted her first day of middle school.

After work, I sped home, anxious to pick up the girls. Traffic was light and I realized that I was actually going to be too early. I didn't want to pick Cassie up right after she arrived at the Taekwondo studio. And, I wanted to give Lacey time enough to enjoy an after-school snack. So, I stopped to fuel up my car. I even had time to use the restroom at the gas station. You can see that I was really enjoying myself.

Cassie was exuberant. She flung a pile of paperwork at me, exclaiming that the white form needed to be returned tomorrow; the pink form on Thursday; and if the blue form wasn't completed tomorrow as well, she wouldn't be able to get a locker. Cassie continued explaining that she has P.E. and lunch with Claira; math with Amanda; orchestra with Allison; language arts with Lauren; Spanish with Sydney; and she and Julia almost got trampled on the way out of school; and it took forever for her to find the Taekwondo bus and she was so tired that she almost sat on the ground and "it goes on and on." Yes, those were her actual words.

We headed over to the elementary school and found Lacey happily having a snack. She too had a pile of papers that needed to be returned the next day. After serving more snacks; scurrying off to a violin lesson with Cassie; having dinner and overseeing showers, I decided to tackle the paperwork. I'll spare you every fun detail. But, I just have to share the school's expectation that Lacey sign a document acknowledging that she has read and understands the Code of Behavior.

Wednesday, Day 2, got off to another smooth start. Cassie had stuffed her backpack with supplies in anticipation of receiving her first locker! Then, around 9:30 a.m., I received a text from her stating that because I had forgotten to sign both sides of the blue form, she would not be given a locker. The text included a little crying face symbol. Great, my kid was now being forced to act as a pack mule, simply because I forgot one signature!! I called Les and asked if he could go to the school at lunchtime and sign the form. When he got there, Cassie was called to the office and chastised for using her cell phone at school. (I later gave Les instructions regarding the fine art of omission. He could have said, "My wife called me because she realized she forgot to sign." Or, how about, "On the way to school, Cassie texted my wife.") But, Cassie got that locker. I let Les do the after school pickups because we had all agreed that he needed to learn the routine. I spent the evening wading through more school-related paperwork - an orchestra handbook; a P.E. handbook. The stack was endless.

By Thursday, we were settling into our new routine and the flow of paperwork was slowing. And, on Friday, we were rejoicing with the arrival of the weekend. I picked up Cassie and chatted with the supervisor. A couple of parents had asked if an older student could read to their children and help with homework. Yes, I agreed, Cassie was an excellent candidate and would be happy to work with the younger kids. Beaming with parental pride, I went to retrieve Lacey. She was happy, as usual. As I thanked the daycare providers for a good first week, the senior employee asked if we could speak in privacy. "Oh," I asked, "Has Lacey been forgetting to use her inside voice? We do remind her of that." The woman shook her head. "Was she hogging the Legos again?" I continued. Wrong again. It seems that Lacey has been entertaining her classmates by popping out her eye and laying it on the table for them to examine. Naturally, the other kids have been fascinated by this!!

In the car on the way home, I struggled about what to do with this bit of knowledge. We had instructed Lacey not to remove her eye at school. It could so easily be lost or damaged. To replace it would require a series of appointments. I didn't want to scold her because I don't want to associate anything negative with her eye. Other than a therapeutic blog entry, what was I to do? Then, the ever helpful Cassie came to the rescue.

"Hey, Lacey," Cassie volunteered. "Do you know what teachers do at lunchtime? They go to the teacher's lounge and tell stories about kids like you! "