Hodge Podge

Somehow, slowly, piece by tiny piece, routines and schedules and activities and the general whatnot have shifted so that, even though I wake up with the conviction that, yes, today I AM going to write up a post, by the end of the day, the hours have whooshed past, and that Last Posted date ticks a notch further away. Sigh. I hate that. I’m working on that. I wanted to do this in the first place, right? And stupid procrastination and rampant perfectionism kept me from doing it for more than 5 years (that’s a story for another day, if I can find the time to write it). Gotta get over that.

Anyway…

A big thank you to Jennie for inviting me to her Nintedo Wii American Heart Association hootenanny this past weekend. We have been trying to meet face to face for, well, I have completely lost track for how long, but let’s just say I have at least a season’s worth of One Tree Hill and Friday Night Lights to discuss with her, so when her invite popped up in my inbox, I was bound and determined to get there. I walked through that front door and promptly freaked out in my little head. I spied Jennie from across the room, looking so in charge talking to a group of friends, and I was completely terrified. I didn’t know how to introduce myself, how to break into a conversation that I was clearly not a part of, how not to look like the major geek we all know I am, and I was just standing there with my drink willing my feet to move, when she turned around and asked, “Are you Julie?” Y’all, she recognized me from that sorry little profile picture, and that right there is a miracle. We hugged and she introduced me to a whole bunch of amazing women like Erica, Natalie, Kristie, and Danielle, and no one held it against me when my insanity rushed headlong out of my mouth (I know I made at least 3 really ridiculous remarks and I apologize for the IQ points I lost in those moments). Everyone professed to being socially awkward, but really, nothing could be farther from the truth. I really did feel like I was sitting at the cool kids table, and I’m so grateful. That’s not a place to which I am accustomed. And I really hope we can all get together again soon. Preferably somewhere where fruit is not considered “dessert.”

Now’s the time for a little soul bearing. I know most of the people that read this are related to me and therefore might already know a little bit about this, but for the 1 or 2 out there to whom I am not genetically linked, I’m going to throw out something that’s driving me crazy (crazier, whatever). As I’ve mentioned, I’m new to this parent of a student thing, what with Sammy just starting kindergarten this fall. He comes home every day with a folder that includes an indication of his behavior for the day. For the first 2 months, he was stellar, getting a sticker (that’s a good thing), and sometimes even 2 every single day (OK, there that that 1 day in the first week that the day was just blank, but I think his teacher just forgot to give out the stickers that day, or so I’ve convinced myself). And now we are in November. And he’s come home with 4 slash marks already for whatever poor choices he’s made that day. They range from shouting out to not finishing classwork to, and it kills me to admit this, pushing. It’s never the same thing twice, so far. All I know is what he’s being reported for, with absolutely no context because my kid’s mouth is locked tighter than Fort Knox when it comes to telling us about his day. I don’t understand why he did anything, and I think he understands that what he’s done is wrong, but I can’t tell how much of that he really, truly gets. He doesn’t seem to be developing a pattern (other than just breaking the rules in general), and yesterday, it appeared that he really did feel bad about his actions (he was so hangdog coming home, and it looked like he’d been crying when he told me there wasn’t a sticker in the folder), so maybe he’s starting to comprehend what’s going on, but, man, I am at a loss as to how to nip this cycle in the bud. Or am I being a super-paranoid helicopter mom who shouldn’t worry about it because it’s only a report and the teacher hasn’t called me about anything so maybe it’s not as troublesome as I thought and they’re working it out in the classroom? I know all kids have their bad days, and I’d really be worried if he never came home stickerless because that’s just not realistic. But darned if I’m not all torque up inside trying to figure out how to get back to where we were in October.

Last week, I accompanied Sammy’s class on their annual Fall Walk, which consisted of shuffling 4 kindergarten classes of kids through the neighborhood to the nearby duck pond, walking around said pond with them as they picked up leaves and rocks, keeping them from running into said duck pond, eating a quick picnic lunch, and then watching them burn off untold amounts of energy on the playground before reversing the route back. Sabrina came with us, and boy howdy, does she think she’s 1 of them. Not that the kinders agreed. After a good 15 minutes of being treated like a real live, moving baby doll by Sammy’s female classmates, Sabrina decided she’d had enough of that and made a break for it, which in turn required no fewer than 3 parents to chase after and catch. She’s wily, that one. I cannot imagine how those teachers carried on with actual lesson plans after we got back, because I know all I wanted to do was take a nap.

I have no cohesive wrap up for this post. Let me just end with this little tidbit, at my expense. This morning, I cut up are roasted the pie pumpkins my kids painted for Halloween, so they wouldn’t go to waste. I’d wager that when they see the carnage to their gourds, I won’t be giving out any stickers for their behavior.

Kindergartners, as far as the eye can see.

See, Mom, I can totally hang in kindergarten.