Whew! Today is the first day of school for my boys. I won’t lie, Mitch and I have both been super excited about the first day of school (for different reasons).
Last week the boys had an open house (for Mitch) and orientation (for Ryan). This was where they get to meet their teachers, and in Mitch’s case, bring in his supplies. It’s also when I found out that Mitch’s teacher reads my blog.
Ack!
I had hit of those weird blogger milestones where you realize that real people, people you might just meet one day, read your stuff. When Mrs. B said she read my blog I had a mini-panic attack–because I had just sent in a guest post slamming the whole back to school shopping process, including a dig at the school. Yikes!
The sad part is that my issue with school supplies dates back to Ryan’s experience. When Ryan was in elementary we bought this huge wagon load of supplies and dumped it all in the communal supply closet. There was no point in buying anything interesting, colorful or unique for school because Ryan would never see it again. You just had to hope that the other parents all bought good crayons too.
When we met Mitch’s first grade teacher she had us take out all the (unlabeled!) supplies and put them…in the kid’s desk. Well, except for the markers, that went into a big bucket, but you can’t really blame a teacher for not wanting 6 year olds to have free access to markers to draw on themselves or their friends.
So Mitch got the crayons he picked out and the pencils I sharpened after all.
If you want to read the guest post I wrote on back to school shopping, pop over to Julie’s blog: I Like Beer and Babies. I tried to be funny, because Julie asked me to be funny. Not sure if I pulled it off, so let me know what you think.
As for “surviving” the first day of school, let me share how my day as a part-time empty nester is going so far:
3am: Mitch wakes ups, too excited to sleep. And he needs allergy medicine.
5:55am: Alarm goes off. Wake up and shower. I’m on time!
6:25am: Knock on Ryan’s door, make sure he’s awake. Root through frig for his breakfast. Wonder if I should have gotten him something special. Decide I shouldn’t cook this early in the morning, find the bagels.
6:35am: Make coffee. Get coffee grit all over the counter.
6:40am: Dig through frig again, now for Ryan’s lunch. Realized I should have done this the night before.
6:45am: Find out the deli gal gave me pastrami instead of roast beef. Panic. Turns out Ryan likes pastrami. All is well.
6:55am: Find out you can’t fit a thermos, a pastrami on French bread, teen-sized serving of puffy Cheetos AND fruit in one lunch box. Curse. Pack a couple Twizzlers instead (they’re fruit flavored). Ryan will be happy, if not healthy.
7:00am: Panic as middle school bus zips by window. Remember that high school picks up at 7:30. Deep breath.
7:05am: Pour coffee, quiz Ryan on locker number and first class of the day.
7:10am: Pack Mitch’s lunch. Make a little car out of hot dogs and string cheese. Wonder when the kid will eat a sandwich. Remind myself to pack lunches the night before.
7:20am: Snap Ryan’s photo on his way out to the bus stop. Remind myself to NOT embarrass the child by taking a photo in front of witnesses.
7:25am: Bring coffee to the hubs, still in bed. Drag Mitch out of bed. Put him in my spot, hand him the iPad to accelerate wake up process.
7:30am: Retrieve my coffee from kitchen, look out window. Ryan is still at the bus stop. Shrug it off–the bus is always late on the first day.
7:40am: Check window again. Ryan is still at the bus stop. Go look for Mitch’s favorite shirt. It’s in the dryer.
7:45am: Look out window–Ryan still there. Call school about bus. Secretary gives me number for bus company. Call bus company, find out he has a new bus driver, but she’s coming. Holler out window to Ryan that he has a new driver, despite promise to not embarrass him this morning.
7:50am: Finish packing Mitch’s lunch. Wonder if he’ll eat it.
8:00am: Door bell rings. It’s Ryan. They’ve given up on the bus and he needs a ride NOW. Panic!
8:05am: Get hubs to fix Mitch breakfast. Drive Ryan to high school. Pass by a dozen angry looking high schoolers still waiting for bus.
8:20am:Back home! Pack hub’s lunch. Realize I should really do this the night before.
8:30am: Wait for elementary bus. It’s only 5 minutes late. Take Mitch’s photo of first bus ride, realize I left camera on macro setting from lunch box photo. Curse.
8:40am to 11:35am: Finish coffee while driving to elementary school for First Day celebration. Listen to volunteer opportunities from principal and PTO while stuffing my face with free bagels. Sit through a student assembly with E3, the school’s honorary super hero (it’s a long story).
11:40am: Do an ice breaker with first grade class. Wonder how many notes from the teacher we’ll get for Mitch talking too much. Try not to giggle too much with him when we should be listening to the other students.
Noon: Back home. Start to blog. Hubs calls to see if I’m eating bon bons yet. Curse.