Back to school update

[houseelf]

How did our collective iMSN brood do with back-to-school stuff? I want to hear your updates about the new year and all the transitions. Hopefully everyone is navigating the uptick in activity and stress well.

(I have already talked about this in other threads, so I'll pass to avoid redundancy).

[diggitydot]

So far, so good. All three kiddos seem to like their schools and fit right in. DD1 isn't thrilled with her new HS's band program, but we expected that. She came from a music magnet program into a teeny-tiny HS that barely even has a pep band. Other than that, though, she seems to like her new school.

DD2 always finds her niche quickly. My little social butterfly mixes well with just about everyone. DS usually has the toughest time and even he seems to have quickly found a groove.

[moonlight]

We started part time preschool. Does that count? She loves it there! I think its helping her speech already. We've noticed she was more verbal over the weekend. I didn't understand everything she was saying but at least she's trying.

[DCJenn]

Same old, same old. We have a new principal and she's definitely "by the book" which is of course quite the shock to our crunchy school. There's a new security system in place that has a lot of the parents of the younger kids PISSED- you can no longer walk your child into the school, you have to sign them in at the front door. Started Day Two of the school year which had a lot of kinder kids understandably freaked out. The new PTA is full of assholes and instead of thoughtful fundraisers have bought right into that selling shlock to make a buck crap. Most of us just took the entire packet and tossed it right into the recycle bin. If I wouldn't buy it, I'm certainly not selling it. I made a $100 donation at the beginning of the year- they can suck it.

Other than the external crap, dude loves his teacher. He's very happy with his teacher and he likes his classes. He's very excited that this year they get to do drama. (no shock there) He's still doing piano and the ToolBox after school program. Against my better judgement, I also signed up up for the San Antonio Children's Chorus. It's way too far away (30 minutes from downtown) but he likes it. I'm sharing commuting with another parent.

J.

[v-girl]

We start school on Monday. Still working on getting our room set up after a summer of craft projects. LOL

[spotty_dog]

DS started kindergarten this week. He is thriving, and I'm so relieved. I was afraid the long days would be draining on him (he's gone 8:40 to 3:54 Monday, Wednesday, and every other Friday) but he gets off the bus in great spirits. I've mentioned he's in a class of 25, but thankfully a new section is being added, so that will drop to around 18 soon. It's been a weird week, as we've had a second kindergartener and a second preschooler for most of the time. Plus DH was on vacation (so, so grateful to have him home while we navigated things like getting to the bus stop on time!) So we'll see how next week goes. He also started soccer on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I'm brushing up on my crock pot cooking. All the activity is a bit of a shock after a schedule-free summer!

DD is in co-op preschool and had her first full session yesterday. She did wonderfully of course, she's been looking forward to being a "big preschooler" forever. Mah baby!

[Chrisada]

R is loving Kindergarten and they added the new class today. And they kept R in his current classroom! I was expecting him to be moved since I initiated the getting a third class, but his teacher loves him and I sent her a little Starbucks gift card and offered to be her room mom on the 1st day to let her know we're a keeper! P is loving pre-school, which he goes to everyday. He's only doing it at 3 years old because it's covered through our school system for speech. And Mommy is loving this schedule. I drop the boys off, go workout, chill a little while, pick up P and he goes down for a two hour nap around 1:30 until it's time to get R.

[SuzySunshine]

A started at her new preschool last week, I wasn't here for her first two days which really bummed me out but she's doing great. I seem to have picked all the wrong schedules though the other kids almost all do extended day on Wednesday and hers is on Monday. The other kids are all doing Catechesis on Thursdays and A's is on Friday. There is a group of girls in her class who were all in the same class last year and are already clique, the moms are very nice and are really are trying to get them to include A and hopefully it just takes time. She has met another little girl who she's with on Monday afternoons and I guess they have recess at the same time. I met her and her mom today and they seem nice but I really hope she makes friends with girls in her class because she sees them more and has dance with them on Thursdays as well.

R has one full day of school, a kids day out, on Monday and he loves it. However I get the impression he is one of the oldest and I know its really just meant to be a daycare situation but I fear he is already bored and is already having minding issues. We'll see how the next few weeks go, I'm looking into other options for him because even though he doesn't turn 3 until November I think he needs to be challenged he's a very bright boy and I have people tell me that a LOT!

They both have gymnastics on Tuesdays, R has Kindermusik on Wednesday and A has Kindermusik and dance on Thursday so we are busy busy but I'd rather have that then the no schedule summer we had. The young mother's group had a social today too but I of course knew no one and not a single person introduced themselves, that's disappointing to me but I will see the moms in A's class several times a week and several of them seem to have their oldest at A's age and a 2nd at R's age so hopefully we'll get some friends made soon.

[migirl]

Our oldest (6yo) started first grade this year, and is doing very well so far. I started out the school year VERY annoyed because I found out at the END of the first day of school that he'd been put into a first-/second-grade split classroom! It just seems like that is information that could have been shared prior to the start of the school year! He tends to have a more independent learning style and doesn't need a lot of hand-holding which - I think - is why he got put into that class. Academically I think he'll be fine and it will be good for him to be challenged; socially I was worried about the fact that out of his class of 27 children (yes, 27!! there are two other aides besides the teacher, though, so at least it's not too crazy) only ten are first-graders but he seems to be doing just fine and making friends with the second-graders in his class. He's also playing on the boys' first-grade soccer team (more for social reasons than his inherent (ahem, non-existant) soccer-playing abilities), continuing with swim lessons, while adding piano and tennis lessons. I really never thought I would be that mom who's constantly shuttling her kids around town for all of these crazy sports/activities, but here we are!

Our middle one (4yo) started his second and final year of preschool, he is loving being back in school and is doing great. We've added a full day extension on Wednesday afternoons (he attends a traditional half-day preschool), which he LOVES.

The baby (she'll be 2yo next weekend and I still refer to her as "the baby"... ) is beginning a more intensive speech therapy program this fall (Hanen, anyone?) because she still has about a 6-month delay in her expressive language skills. Cognitively she is right where she should be (understands and follows basic commands, etc.), but she has very few words.

Finishing up our second week back to school here, and so far so good!

[ides]

O started preschool almost a month ago. He's in the 4's at a montessori/art school. His class has 26 kids with three teachers and are broken up into groups of 8 for most activities. It's 3hrs four mornings a week. He loves it and I've noticed an increase interest in learning and independence. He is also having speech therapy once a week at our local elementary school. It seems to be helping though his teachers at preschool said that they haven't noticed his speech delay. Yea! I've also started him back in Taekwondo. The school is more hardcore & exact than his last. It's twice a week. Dh wants to start him on music lessons but I'm already feeling like he has enough. O seems to be settling into okc well. I think he likes it more than he liked Abq. He still says he prefers nyc though because it has subways.

[mommax3]

We are doing okay.....just finished week 5! I have a senior, a freshman, and a 5th grader this year. My senior is doing well and is looking toward college next year....one more visit scheduled and then he will be deciding where he is headed! He broke up with his long-time girlfriend over the summer, (sob...I *really* liked her) so he is footloose and fancy free. He is very involved with church youth group and with music at church. He lost his job (he worked in the after-school care program) and is bummed about that, but not enough (yet) that he's gotten another job! He is still friends with the ex-girlfriend, so who knows what the future holds. I felt like his relationship with her gave me something to talk about with him, and I was sad to see the end of that common ground. I have really struggled not to be "that" mom (over-involved in teenagers' relationships) this summer. Time at home with his family ranks low on his priority list, right now, and he is "kicking himself out of the nest" behaviorally pretty consistently. He is for sure a people person and WAY more extroverted than either DH or I.

My freshman is not a super-strong student, especially in math, and Algebra this year is going to be an ongoing struggle. Having brothers excel at math (and everything else academic) is hard for him and hard to manage as a parent....how do you not make school the end-all be-all for one child and appropriately celebrate accomplishments in that arena of the others? He is in a Journalism class that he loves and he is much more a word person, so that is a bright spot. He is more introverted than my oldest and seems to be dealing with the stress of being in a new structure/school by declaring that he is a hermit (probably as a reaction against his brother's love of being surrounded by people at all times). He seems perfectly happy and is definitely starting a growth spurt. I suspect (hope) that he will come into his own once his older brother goes off to college. He is looking forward to swim season starting, too, and that is an area where he has been successful in the past. I just hope he will be able to handle the practices as well as school.

My 5th grader is the child DH and I expected to have....somewhat shy and good with both words and numbers. He is currently playing soccer and travel basketball tryouts are next weekend. He is extremely tall and gangly, and he and DS #2 are almost the same height. I suspect they will both be as tall or taller than me by next summer. DS#3 really values his friends but is not always secure in how they feel about him (sounds so familiar to me)! He is very competitive but not overtly...most of the angst takes place inside his head. He is hard on himself, too, and will obsess about missing a point on an assignment...not really something I can identify with, but a trait DS#1 could certainly use!

All in all, I think the boys are okay, but DH and I are tired in a way we never envisioned. We remark at least weekly to each other that we never expected parenting to be this hard. We have a lot to be thankful for, though, and we are just trying to keep going!

[Pollyanna]

Sally, is your DS staying close to home for college or is he looking to go far away?

School for us seems to be going well so far. Everything is new so it's kind of surreal.

Dd18 is at Belmont and loving it. She is a Biochem/Molecular bio major and dance minor. She likes the freedom and she likes that most of her classes are ones she gets to choose. She likes the Christian community but is experiencing more anti-Catholic sentiment than she is used to. She's been explaining Mary and the Saints a lot, lol. Someone asked her to go to the Vandy this weekend. She is looking forward to the game but doesn't want the boy to think its anything more than a friendly date, lol.

Ds16 is a sophomore and is doing well. He has more confidence than should be allowed, lol. He is playing football but is considering switching to golf next year. He will play baseball in the spring and also wants to get a job. I'm not sure how that is possible when he leaves at 7am and gets home at 7pm, later on game nights. I guess he has the weekends but he also has to do volunteer work plus he has youth group on Sundays. I swear, kids barely have a chance to breath these days.

Ds12 is liking school. He loves football and everything about it even though 7th graders don't get to play very much. He will do wrestling next which he is also excited about. He is a complete dichotomy, sweet gentle boy great dance but he loves to play the line in football and he is thrilled to wrestle. He is also exceedingly competitive in everything( which is a pita at tones, lol) He seems to have friends and like his classes so so far so good.

Dd10 has finally settled in. She had several crying spells over the summer which was hard. She still misses AZ but is trying to be more positive. She is also 10 so she's snippy and going through puberty (probably a harder time than any to move). She feels ahead in school which is nice for a change because she was always on the regular kid track which made her feel like she wasn't as smart. She is dancing again and just tried out for the Nutcracker. Hopefully she will make it and have a chance to make some dance friends.

Dd3 would like to go to preschool but I haven't found one I am thrilled about that has spots available. She is taking dance once a week and I'll try to find one more activity for her but I'm not really interested in adding a whole lot of extra activities to may plate with the new baby and all

[ides]

Dd18 is at Belmont and loving it. She is a Biochem/Molecular bio major and dance minor. She likes the Christian community but is experiencing more anti-Catholic sentiment than she is used to. She's been explaining Mary and the Saints a lot, lol.

Yes. This will not change. You will find many who think Catholics are not Christians. :0.

[Chrisada]

Yes. This will not change. You will find many who think Catholics are not Christians. :0.

This is my pet peeve, and I'm not even religious! I have told people more than once that Catholicism is actually the biggest group of Christianity. And explained to them in detail why Catholics are Christians and pretty much started it all. Scary how little history people know. Where we live, everyone I know who is religious is Catholic, not so in your city Pollyanna! We used to go to the downtown Cathedral often though.

[niener]

Yes. This will not change. You will find many who think Catholics are not Christians. :0.

This is so funny to me becuase I had such the opposite experience there. Everyone I knew was either Catholic or Atheist, lol.