Busy Bees Exit Assessment, Preschool Year One

My view from the conference seat.

Twice this year, preschool was canceled so the teacher could schedule a 15-minute parent conference with each of the parents. There's a printed paper and the evaluations of your kid.

You're not allowed to bring kids. I understand they can be distracting, but staying home means I am the babysitter. Just me. It's not convenient to assume I can get a babysitter for 15 minutes of my day. We have no family local, so I'm left with the option to kindly beg friends and often drive the complete opposite direction of the school to drop the kids off for a conference that isn't really necessary but one I feel terrible about missing since my past (and future!) life was that of a teacher. That held conferences. And expected parents to show up. I do care about my 3-year-old, but I hardly believe she plans to tell me anything I didn't know since she spends 5 total hours of her week with him and I spend all eighty billion hours of mine. But, he is with other kids and it's a social environment and one with structure and all that jazz.

As a teacher, I always encouraged kids to be involved in the conferences because I felt that they owned their learning, but that was also upper elementary when they had a handle on these school experiences and weren't still learning to pull up their pants after going to the potty.

I received a text from another mom in Benjamin's preschool class last night asking if I wanted to tag team the kids (total, 4) while the other heads to the conference. Sure. Sounded perfect. Except, my conference was at 9:00 and hers at 9:15, directly following mine. We couldn't do the whole drop-off-the-kids-at-your-house thing and swap out, because we had no travel time in between conferences. Next idea, hang out with the kids at the school playground. Except, they were having maintenance done and the preschool director deemed it "unsafe" to play.

So, I packed a bag of crackers, books, sidewalk chalk, balls and a remote-control car and showed up in front of the school at 8:55. She arrived and we both kept the kids contained and busy for the half hour right in front of the school on the sidewalk.

The conference was nothing surprising. Benjamin mostly follows directions, but has difficulty sometimes with sharing and, well, caring. He's got his own agenda but has shown great improvement in following directions and knows all of his colors (except gray), body parts, his gender and full name and shapes. She did surprise me when she said he comes willingly to engage in art projects. All of this was written down on his assessment sheet (that I received) and then she told me a few cute stories of him playing "airport" with the other kids in the class. It's cool to know he's now engaging with other kids instead of the parallel play that dominated his early preschool months.

Other than that, I would've preferred 2.5 glorious hours of kid-free time. What on earth am I going to do this summer when I don't even have those 5 hours to grocery shop? #sendgroceries

Exciting Month of Firsts

First haircut and first day of school for the almost 2.5 (Saturday!) year old this week.

We took a jog down to the local haircut joint in a local shopping center this past weekend and got Benjamin a haircut. Nevermind that it was super slow and there were two stylists and they were quite possibly the slowest people on the planet.

Benjamin could not have been better behaved and seemed rather proud that he was getting his hair cut.

Bye bye cute surfer hair...

This morning was another first. The first day of two-year-old preschool! From here on, he will always be attending school (except for summer breaks). He was really excited and a little nervous. The first day is an orientation to meet the teacher, other students, their parents, and learn about the school policies, etc. Dad took him today because I'll be taking him every other day and wanted us both to have experience with his classroom and meeting his teacher.

So many. Just couldn't decide. I am totally THAT mom.

First Day Top 10 List:
1. Two classes of 2yo kiddos.
2. Each class has 6 kids, but capacity is 8 kids.
3. His class has 3 boys, 3 girls.
4. Attends 2x/week for 2.5 hrs each of those days. Just 5 hours a week, but he truly needs this time with other students and other adults.
5. Apparently one of the girls is super aggressive, so that actually makes me feel better when Benjamin bites her. (Did I just type that?) What I really mean is that I am glad he's not the only "terrible" two at times.
6. Lots of "helicopter parents" according to my husband.
7. One of Benjamin's friends is starting as well (2 months younger) but is in the other class, as they are broken up by age. Benjamin's class is the "older" twos. But don't be fooled. His friend is potty-trained in the "younger" class. Le sigh.
8. The teacher was briefing the parents on the policies in the handbook and the kids were playing in the classroom. Benjamin brought over some alphabet toy and then interrupted the teacher to sing the full ABC song along with the "next time won't you sing with me" ending. I'd be impressed, but see #7 above about potty-training and you won't be so impressed. He's no closer to doing his business in a toilet than the day he was born.
9. I totally already offered to handle the Scholastic book orders (insert surprised emoticon because it's only preschool!). Just call me room mom already. Hah. But something tells me I am handling the book orders for the whole preschool for the twos, threes and fours. What can I say, I have experience. Hahaha. Such expertise.
10. At the end of his first day, he yelled, "SO FUN!" really loudly.

I'll leave you with a short interview of the toddler before he left for school this morning.

From Teacher to Parent

I enrolled Benjamin in a local Parent's Day Out summer program to get him used to going to "school" for the fall. We planned to enroll him at the same place, but we might be shifting gears and switching because the availability of days is just not available to us (read: I am the idiot who didn't research registration and the days I wanted are full--who knew this "preschool" business was so impacted in the Chicago suburbs!). I called it "school" because I wanted him to associate with Daniel Tiger and how the characters attend school. It's structured, so a bit different than daycare. They have a schedule of outside play, organized craft, storytime, snack, music time, etc. I also didn't call it "class", because that is what we referred to swim and gymnastics. They were where Mommy and/or Daddy attended with him, and school would be solo.

He went a total of four days for this session, separated over two weeks. He was in "school" for 4 hours and ate lunch there. I picked him up, brought him home and put him down for a nap. He desperately needed this. He needs to be in a program with structure and a schedule along with the social interaction that early preschool really does encourage. He also needed to be with other adults that were not Mom and Dad.

It wasn't time for a pedicure and coffee dates, however. I still had little sister to work with, but if I played my cards right, I did manage to get some errands run and a few things crossed off the ol' to-do list.

There were funny moments to note:

• The first was about me. This was the first time I signed my son in with strangers (aside from 1-hr at church where we are just feet away) and left for a number of hours. It was not as uncomfortable as I thought, but I did think it was strange that I knew nothing about these teachers he would spend his day with! Being a teacher, I was always the one who cared for the kids and released them at the end of the school day to their parents. Yes, my students were considerably older and literate, but it was an odd feeling. 
• I picked him up on the first day and he was sitting at the head of the table of 8 kids (all girls but him!), holding the teacher's hand and touching her shiny jewelry. The kid loves attention. The teacher told me, "He loves talking, telephones, and shiny things." Nailed it.
• I loved that he had lunch there, but felt odd about packing him a lunch. It was so foreign to me that he would take a lunch somewhere and eat it with other people! I also felt uncomfortable because my son is a terrible eater. He just never wants food-- only snack foods. The 1st day he ate everything I provided (sandwich, milk, yogurt). The 2nd day, I gave a bit more (sandwich, squeeze pack applesauce, Snapeas crispy things, milk). They sent the sandwich back home with him. Since he didn't eat it, I decided to send less snacks and just the main foods I wanted him to eat on day 3 because clearly the teachers were not pushing the sandwich as much as the snack foods. The 3rd day, he ate the whole sandwich and yogurt and all of his milk. When I picked him up, the teachers said, "He was starving!" He ate it all and tried to steal other kids' food and recommended I send more snacks. Ahhh! He also begged for more crackers at snacktime (um, my kid loves crackers, even if he is full). So on Day 4, I sent a sandwich, yogurt, crackers, Snapea crispy things, strawberries and milk. He ate 95% of it all. Seriously, the kid ate SIX bites of dinner last night. Total. School is a magical place.
• When we came home and were talking just before naptime on Day 3, I asked if he played outside (the only non-rainy day of the four days!). He responded, "Oh, sorry. No no bite." I would assume that the teachers would have told me he was a biter rather than placing a huge emphasis on him "starving" instead? It's totally funny how although he doesn't have language mastery, he can communicate a bit of something that occurred. Maybe it was just him overhearing a conversation or repeating what the teacher was telling the bulk of students? It's not really much different than what my 4th & 5th graders probably went home and told their parents on many occasions. A big, ol', misunderstanding.
• When I picked him up on the 4th day, he had a huge smile on his face and the first thing out of his mouth when I walked in was "FUN!" Oh man. The kid is going to be so sad to know there is no more school until late August.

The transition from teacher to parent is definitely humbling and mildly uncomfortable. Benjamin is my son, but he makes his own choices in life. What he does in 4 hours with other people has some reflection on who I am as a parent to him, but ultimately he is his own being making his own decisions. It's hard not to feel the pressure though, especially coming from my teacher shoes. It should be interesting when the years press on and the teacher-parent relationships really start to warm up. I already feel tense.

Right-Wing Ranting

I sit on the couch right now exhausted.

I've been back working full time for two days now. That's it. And I'm spent. But let me first explain that I agreed to a job that has so far yielded me doing absolutely nothing of value in two days. Ah, government waste. As a taxpayer, it drives me mad!

Yesterday was student orientation at the elementary school. When I was teaching in Cali, teachers were responsible for all the paperwork-- health info, lunch money, girl/boy scouts, etc. Not only that, but I taught a regular class size of 32 students! I checked off which student brought what signed paper back and hounded them until they brought back the emergency cards. This school has a system where students and their parents come in to "orientation" where they fill out bus paperwork, health forms, sign up for stuff, and get their class assignments. Then, they visit the classroom and meet their teacher and see their new desk-- the week before school starts. It's a great idea. And filled with an entire day of paying every single teacher and support staff person that works at the school site. I see it both ways-- I love it for students and find it incredibly wasteful of taxpayer dollars on the other end! There is so much value in students preparing themselves for the year and having family involved from minute one. However, yesterday I spent the entire day standing and pointing when parents walked into the school doors. That's it.

Yesterday was tough-- despite me just standing and pointing the whole day. It was tough on my feet. But it was also tough on my heart. Usually I'm pretty comfortable in schools even though children surround me all. day. long. They aren't my kids and I see them as students and less as family members. Yesterday, I saw them as family units. And of course I saw their little brother or sister in the stroller or cute little toe-heads running wild that struck me so similar to what I'd have in Andrew. That was brutal. I was not pre-occupied with paperwork or anything but standing there, pointing, and smiling. So I had a lot of time to think about what I was missing out on and how much I long for that family that I'm working so freaking hard to achieve. I also had a nice, long conversation with like one student. His parents came to the side just to chat with me because I seemed like I needed company or something. And their son's name, Andrew. And he's super white with reddish-blond hair and super smart. Yep, pretty much what I'd expect from my own Andrew if I had the chance to experience that. He's quite the chatterbox, too, and I would have talked to him all day long.

Today was much of the same. I came in because I'm on contract and it was required. There was a meeting all day I was not required to attend. Instead, I had nothing. to. do. again. Finally, I was able to convince a teacher to leave the meeting to give me some busywork so the day would go by faster. What school doesn't have a zillion things piled up in each classroom to prepare the Friday before school starts? I remember it all too well and knew I'd be able to find something to help another teacher out with. I printed, cut, and created magnets of student faces for most of the day. Then I had lunch. Then I worked for another 45 minutes, found another classroom to work in for a bit, and hung out with another girl who was equally bored and counting the minutes until we could leave.

I'm not so much complaining about the boredom as I am complaining about the waste. I just felt useless! I know that once the school year starts, I'll manage to find my way into a busy space. I'll be present and helpful to assure that these kids learn. But oh, government waste.

And let's not forget about the family units that made my ovaries ache ever since Thursday. Goodness gracious.

I drove behind this vehicle on Thursday after the family day at school:

Those friggin' family stickers. Ugh.

So Much Glitter.

Extra cool points for anyone who knew what this post was about before looking! Canadians are excluded because they don't have Target stores yet and therefore are off the hook. The best store ever is coming my friends... just you wait! I read on Wikipedia that they're taking over former Zellers stores. And since you guys are not fortunate to have these fantastic commercials, please watch my favorite one. It's short. And fantastic.{But can you guys even see this in Canada? Dang.}

Also, because I'm all nostalgic and schools are starting back up, I figured this would be my tribute. I had a small feeling of jealousy again the other day for not going back to school as a full time teacher. I know that I'm doing what is best right now, but I haven't felt like that since last August when I was well into my pregnancy with Andrew. The middle school kiddies on my block are back and I saw them today in their schnazzy new school clothes. Remember setting them out when you were a kid? Or even better, sleeping in them and laying completely still so you wouldn't crease them? Cmon, you know you did.

Well, I did.