The kids return to school

Today we took our kids to school - all of them. Conor, our baby, entered Kindergarten. The girls returned to public school after a year of home schooling. Rob and I came back to the house and realized that we've never really been in the house without the kids. If they are out, at least one of us is out with them. We went out for breakfast and then to home depot, thinking all the time about how the kids are adjusting.

I don't feel much faith in the ability of this particular school to meet the children's needs. I was not impressed that they did not start the school year with time for children and their parents to meet with the teacher individually, a practice we had loved at our first school. And this morning was so disorganized in helping new students to find their way. Essentially, they did nothing to help them, they didn't even give us the names of the teachers. When we found someone to tell us who their teachers were and where to go, the person directed Ashlin to the wrong door and told Taryn two possible teachers, both of which were wrong. I had to delay helping Taryn find her class while helping Ashlin to find hers and she arrived after everyone was already sitting down. Ashlin's teacher at least said that she had put Ashlin with a very nice group of girls who could help her learn the ropes. Ashlin smiled about that. Taryn just looked unhappy about the whole thing.

The girls were not my biggest worry, however. Conor was. He has been dead set against school for months now. I know any change is hard for him, and I've been working at giving him a language for talking about ambivalence. Last night he told me he was just going to sit in a chair and not do anything. As we walked to school he was singing and asked me if I liked his singing. I said yes. He said he was singing a song called, I don't want to go to school. I noted that he said earlier he was excited and that he must have mixed feelings. He said the song wasn't about him, it was about another boy who didn't want to go to school.

"What happened with the boy?" I asked.

"He got used to it," Conor replied.

Conor didn't cling to us or cry, the big fear. I had scripted out goodbye routine for him a number of times and I like to think that helped. But I kept wondering if he would continue to commit to just sitting in a chair.

When I picked him up 2 1/2 hours later, he came running, threw his arms around me and said, "I had fun!" Phew! Yay! He went back and forth through the afternoon, saying he didn't like it and then he did. I think did won out in the end. Plus he got a home reading book with cars in it. Does the teacher ever know his number.

I still wondered about the girls.

At the new school parents have to wait outside the school for their children (that will be fun in January, I'm sure. Stupid school). So I went to the door that Ashlin went in. No Ashlin. I went to the door that Taryn went in. No Taryn. With Conor in tow I wander around inside and out until both of them eventually turn up along with helpful teachers. Sheesh this is confusing. No one's mad that I wasn't clairvoyant and the girls told me they made friends and like their teachers.

Double phew. Double yay. This might work out after all.