Paleontologist Smunch

Just two days (two, very, very short days) after the big birthday party, Smunch was scheduled to give his oral report on the Allosaurus to his second grade class. I hadn't done well with the preparations for this report. Things were just so crazy in the week leading up to his performance. Preparing for it required canceling swim lessons and mommy's birthday dinner out, but it got done. It was just a short report, just about two and a half minutes. Of course, knowing how difficult speaking can sometimes be for my little guy, I held my breath for him, but only for a second. He did great!

The Grand Tea

At Smunch's school, it is tradition for each of the second grade classes to do a recitation of The Velveteen Rabbit, followed by a formal tea party. Not surprisingly, this very cute event turns out to be a ton of work for volunteering parents. And somehow, it turned into an event where I felt like I was moving half my china cabinet to the classroom.

Of course, I have a lot of stuff and judging by the frequency with which I use that stuff, there's really no reason why I shouldn't take it to school for a bunch of second graders to have tea. Still, it made me a little tense to know that my late mother-in-law's silver sugar tongs were there...and a bunch of silver plate spoons that aren't tremendously valuable, except that I really like them! I supplied a couple of tablecloths, 48 plates, backup spoons, napkins and homemade English shortbread. I set up and cleaned up. Thankfully, Daddy was there to supply a very bored Mam with some iPhone entertainment.

And in the middle of all that, I held my breath while my dysfluent son recited his memorized lines in the story at the appropriate times. He did a great job and I was really proud of him. It's not so much that he memorized the lines. That seemed to be pretty easy for him. And it's not because he didn't stutter. He did, although not much. I'm so proud that he doesn't let that stutter stop him. He never once said that he didn't want to participate. He bristled a couple of times when Daddy and I suggested ways to make his speech smoother, but ultimately, he did it all himself. He might not have been quite as expressive as some of the other students, but he was great to this oh-so-impartial mommy.

And the tea was a lovely, if crowded, little event. It was held right there in the classroom, so the kids got to sit at their "tables" with white tablecloths and full tea service while the adults stood around. The spread of food was appropriately tea-like, with finger sandwiches, scones and mini muffins.Although Gram had just had her latest tooth implant procedure (the one that still has her in so much pain), she joined us for the festivities, making for a terrific photo opportunity.It took a cart for me to get all my supplies back to the mommymobile...and just in time for me to go by the kindergarten yard to help make some "gingerbread" houses for the kindergartners to decorate the next day... The second graders would be having the same party. Thankfully, it's the party marking the last day of school before the holidays. But gosh, the kids are having a great time!

Another Year, Another Kindergartner

Scrolling back through the posts I've written this summer, it's painfully obvious just how busy we were. I try not to write much when there's nothing much going on, but that was rarely the case. This is perhaps the first year both kids will really remember the summer...based on how old they are. I hope they remember it fondly and not as a mishmash of dizzying, but fun experiences.

School started so early this year. It wasn't even late August yet. But then, something had to curb my need for overscheduling, I guess. And I was so excited to see Mam off to kindergarten, with the expectations that she'd be very, very happy there and I'd be happy to have the kids in the same place.

Before the big Wednesday first day of school, Mam had a lemonade social at the kindergarten where she got together with her future classmates and got to meet her new teacher. After all that posing at Disney World, Mam was happy as a clam to pose with her latest princess. Looks familiar, doesn't it?This one, she gets to keep visiting for the rest of the year. And she'll only have to compete for attention with 19 other kids rather than a whole theme park full.

The teachers took all the kids in the classroom to read a story and left the parents out on the playground. Since we were a couple of minutes late, Mam wasn't sure what to make of that, but I got away with escorting her halfway into the classroom...just enough that she could see that she knew other kids in there...and then quickly making my way back out.

Tuesday, I took the kids to my hairdresser for haircuts. Smunch's hair had been cropped so short during the summer, that I just had her tidy it up so it would grow out nicely. Mam, on the other hand, said emphatically that she wanted her hair cropped up to HERE! (with her hand up above her ear). I refused, but she had it cut as short as I was willing to go. I really prefer the long hair, but not the long hair-combing battles, so she gets her way.

Wednesday finally came and I had the kids dressed 'just so' and ready for their first day. Cute clothes, new backpacks, new lunch bags, combed hair, brushed teeth. Mam was excited. Smunch seemed happy, but very slightly apprehensive.The whole family took the short walk to the kindergarten yard, where Mam immediately ran off to play with her friends, including her Sarah who is in her class for the first time this year. After a few minutes, the bell rang and Mam flew past me, "Bye, Mommy!" she waved as she joined the line.So very, very different from her brother. She trotted happily off into the classroom with barely a glance behind her.

We wandered over to the "big kid playground" where Smunch quickly found his line and stood in it, still looking slightly anxious.But it all went away when he met his nice, new teacher. She's quite fabulous, I hear. My interactions with her to date would certainly suggest that's true. Very, very nice with a great reputation.I'm happy about his teacher and about the kids (and parents!) in his class. It's shaping up to be a really good year and in the end, he seemed happy to be off to second grade.Second grade. That used to sound so very old!

And I went off to the Welcome Back Coffee to overvolunteer myself for yet another year. I avoided becoming anyone's room mom, but signed up to help the room mom in both classrooms. I'll be in Mam's room weekly to help out and may be taking both classes to the library from time to time. I'm looking forward to it.

What I didn't realize is that while everything is new and different for the kids, it's really kind of new and different for me too. The volunteering hasn't really kicked into gear yet, so I'm feeling a little adrift in a big sea of parents and kids. All the same friends are still there, but we're all doing different things with different routines than we had last year. I'm hoping that as soon as things firm up a little and I'm getting into the classroom again, I'll feel like I've got a "place" there. Until then, at least my blog is up to date.

It's now Monday and the fourth day of school for both kids. To my great relief, they seem to be getting happier and happier with school. They're both happy to go and happy to stay. I don't know how it could be going better. This is the first year it's actually been easy!