I'm more excited than he is!

Here in North Carolina there are a lot of year-round schools and Michael goes to one of them.  We have enjoyed the year-round experience for the most part and today was our big "Back to School/Meet the Teacher" extravaganza!

I normally dread these things because it's like you go, you meet, you barely get to talk because there is always ONE parent who thinks that the whole purpose of this is to talk about HER child and I am normally standing in line behind her.  Not a pleasant experience.  So we went and can I just say that I LOVE this teacher!  Honestly, I spoke to her (alone and with other moms) for maybe a total of ten minutes but I am seriously giddy at the thought of her being Michael's teacher.

A.)  She is a history major and Michael is a HUGE history buff - reading about World War II in his spare time and watching the History Channel for fun.

B.)  She is an older woman who seems very wise and friendly and very competent in how to handle all of the little quirks that come with a classroom full of 10-year olds.

And finally...C.)  She is a Disney fanatic.

GOD HAS HEARD OUR PRAYERS!!!

Settling Back In...

It was back to business as usual today. Michael went back to school which means that I was up at the crack of dawn, had to fight an angry nine-year old followed by an angry 45 year old. It was not fun. Frank finally is working again - praise the LORD! And Nick went out with a friend for the day and is sleeping out tonight.

I have to admit, days like this still seem a little weird to me. I had the house to myself for almost four hours. I went out and grabbed myself a little take out for lunch, came home and popped in a DVD while I ate and then...nothing. I mean, my little tiny house felt giant and lonely and I sort of just wandered around wondering what in the world to do with myself!! How sad is that? I normally enjoy a little quiet time but if truth be known, I'm having a hard time dealing with the aftermath of the weekend. More and more stuff keeps coming out and my first instinct is to track this crazy woman down and inflict pain on her for the things that she said but then I have to remember that she truly is insane and doesn't really realize what she is doing. Why someone has not called the local insane asylum to come and get her with a large net and a tranquilizer dart is beyond me!

Michael came home with five days worth of homework that his teacher forgot to give him and expects it all to be done by tomorrow. Um, not gonna happen! We got through 90% of it and I am impressed with that and if she has a problem with it, well, she can pay for the therapy bills for us all.

Tomorrow night will be a girls night out and I am so thankful for my friends who are there for me and although they are all extremely curious to hear all of the loopy details of the weekend, I know that they are also there to just love on me when I need it. How awesome is that? All I can say is thank GOD tomorrow is Friday!!

Fourth Grade Going on Forty!

Poor Michael. He went back to school today to start the fourth grade. For those of you who do not live in the area, you should know that Michael goes to year-round school and yes, it is just as annoying as it sounds. He had one week off between third and fourth grade. Now, granted, this eliminates the need for so much review at the beginning of each school year, but for the families, well, it means no summer vacation at all. Honestly, it sucks.

So being a newly crowned fourth grader, Michael came to us with a request. He is nine. Almost ten. He believes that his bed time should be later to compensate for his growth and wisdom. It really must be rough for him to be the youngest in the house. He so badly wants to be big. He wants the same privileges as his much older brother and when we try to explain to him that it is just not possible, well, you can imagine the response we get!

I tried to take him seriously tonight at the dinner table when he made his request. I listened intently as he plead his case and then I made a deal with him - if he wakes up on time for one full week without yelling or crying or whining or carrying on, then we will make his bedtime 30 minutes later. To him, this was sufficient but as his mother, I am well aware that there is NO chance of him accomplishing this goal. We finished eating and I thought we were done.

Now we tackle his homework. Yes, homework on the first day of school!! Honestly I think it is INSANE what is expected of kids in school today. He had eight pages of homework. EIGHT! I guess his bedtime will be increased because he'll be up all daggone night doing his homework! It's kind of my fault that he is working on it so late. I really did not believe that there would be homework tonight so when he got off the bus this afternoon, I took him swimming at a friend's house. We came home, had a snack, hung out and then I was like "Hey, did your teacher send home any paperwork for me today?" and out it all came! There were like a dozen forms for me to fill out and then at the very bottom of the pile was his homework. There has been much whining, crying and carrying on now - mostly from Frank!

My husband and I are from a different generation. When we were in elementary school (back in the 70's for crying out loud!), the work load was no where's near what it is now. Kindergarden was half day and that included nap time and play time! Grades one through three were fairly light and fourth grade, things did get a bit tougher but not eight pages worth of homework on the first night! So not only am I dealing with the nine year old being annoyed and upset over all of the homework, but I've got his dad carrying on too! I had to pull Frank aside and tell him to SHUT IT! I mean, the boy takes his cues from us and if dad is carrying on that the assignment is unfair, who do you think is going to take that attitude to school with him tomorrow and share it with the teacher? The same boy who once told his second grade teacher that she talked too much while giving a spelling test!!

I was sitting in my room watching the Michael Jackson Memorial - the condensed version - and Michael came walking in; clearly taking a break from the work. He sits down next to me and says "Mom, you know how you said that if I got up on time for five days that I'd get to go to bed a half hour later?" So I said yes and he's like "Well if I do it for ten days, can I stay up an hour later?"

Sure, when it comes to bedtime math he's like rain man, but fourth grade math and it takes him all daggone night to get it done!!