Day 1, Tuesday:
Jacob had his first official half day of school. It was an orientation day for new students to school, of all grades. Due to our work schedules, we decided to split Jacob's two half days, since Carter was off for those same two days before the start of school in our district on Thursday. I was going to drop Jacob off on my way to work on Tuesday and Craig would pick him up at 11am before heading into work, where I would then pick up both kids and head home for the afternoon.
I was very nervous about getting us up and out on time. I was worried that Jacob would have his version of an anxiety attack--where he basically shuts down and stonewalls about something random. I do the same thing (hence my funk on Friday), and I was fully expecting something that morning, be it with getting out of bed, his uniform, or something else. I surprised myself by getting up immediately with my alarm, which I almost never do. But with having to get out the door by 7:30, I didn't have the luxury of snoozing unless I wanted to set my alarm for 5:30, which would be crazy. I'm hoping it wasn't just adrenaline, because I need to keep that up. Maybe if I can do it for a month it will become a habit? I was nearly dressed and made up by the time Jacob's alarm went off. He slept through the first few minutes but woke up pretty quickly to shower once I went into his room. He ate breakfast and got dressed without incident (yay for a polo shirt and pants he likes), although I could have done without the random mindless dawdling (like staring at his toothpaste or aimlessly looking in the mirror) that had the potential to make us late.
Moments before we walked out the door, Carter was having some sort of difficulty in the bathroom, and when I walked in, I was speechless. Carter had somehow managed to get poop all over the bathroom. He was having some soft BMs, and apparently had a gas bubble while standing up trying to wipe, and the result was spots of poop sprayed all over the place. Then I think he stepped in some, and basically it was all over the rugs, and almost everything else in some manner. I had to wake up Craig and leave him to clean up the mess without me. There was no choice. I took Jacob's picture quickly (although the white board on the reverse of the chalkboard we always use didn't work too well):
We jumped in the car about seven minutes later than I wanted to, but only two minutes later than we needed to. We made very good time and we walked in the front door shortly before 8am.
We met some faculty, checked in, and sat in the auditorium. Some parents were there, but I was noticing most were not, so when they had the kids move down in the seats, I took my chance to go. Jacob seemed fine with it, so I figured I'd give him some independence on this big first day. I wandered down to the parent room, which was basically a donut bribe to find out about the parent group. I met a couple very nice parents and chatted about the commute from Greece. Then the VP of Advancement, who is recognizable as she's a former news anchor in town, came in. We talked to her for a while, and then I happened to mention that I work in advancement as well, and that set off a fun little conversation. She said we should have coffee so she can pick my brain. I did leave her my card, so we'll see if that happens. But it was nice to get on someone's radar there, anyway! I walked out of the building feeling a little guilty about leaving Jacob there alone, but I knew he'd be fine.
My commute into work was actually much easier than expected, and between catching up with my boss on the loss of her sister's companion and trying to catch up on my work, the morning went quickly. Before I knew it Craig called me to say he was on his way to get Jacob. There was a little chaos with pickup, but by all accounts, Jacob's day was fine. He didn't seem to love it, but he didn't say he didn't want to go back, so I'll take it. He was actually more obsessed with everyone else's shoes, because a lot of kids had casual shoes on. A lot were Sperrys, which are not his style, but he noticed some Vans, too, which he insists he'd wear. I think most of them were students volunteering, but it's possible some new students had different interpretations of the dress shoe rule. I told Jacob to give it a couple weeks before we assume something like Vans are okay, because between the volunteers and those who might get notified of dress code non-compliance, I think we need to wait and see.
The boys and I had a quiet afternoon at home, mostly because I was exhausted (darn it). But just as we were about to go to a park, Carter decided to act like a crazy person and needed to be disciplined for a while. By that time Craig was nearly on his way home. The boys did get some good outside time before dinner, though, so not all was lost.
All in all, day one was fine. As good as could be expected, anyway.
Day 2, Wednesday:
It was Craig's turn to take Jacob in and mine to stay home with Carter in the morning. Jacob took a bit to respond to his alarm again, and once he got up he wanted to take a shower...again. Previously he'd been showering every other day, but apparently now that school has started he wants it to be daily. Yay. He was shockingly okay with wearing an oxford shirt and tie, so that was a pleasant surprise. We need to get him more ties, which is tough because he's getting taller--almost too tall for his kid ties--but isn't quite tall enough for adult ties. We'll make the ones he has work until we figure out an ideal length for now. I read an interesting suggestion online about cutting a few inches out of the middle of an adult tie (so as to not worry about the ends) and sewing it back together in a spot that will be hidden under the collar. Not sure I'm there, but it's interesting, particularly if I ever get around to going to a tailor for a couple other items. Anyway, we had joked previously that the short-sleeve oxfords might look a bit like Dwight Schrute from The Office, but Jacob totally made it work. He looked very handsome. He ended up a bit more rushed as a result of the tie situation, but they got out the door about the same time we did the previous day.
In the meantime, I was fully awake from trying to help pack his bag with supplies and gelling his hair, so after a bit of relaxing, I did a half hour on the elliptical. After adding in some weights and abs, I came upstairs at 9am and had to wake up Carter! He was up a little late the previous night but not a lot, so it left me a bit concerned we would have a monster on our hands the next day when he had to be up bright and early to catch an 8:09am bus! Perhaps an earlier bedtime should be in order--which would actually be better so Jacob's earlier bedtime has one less reason to be contested! He has not been appreciating his 9pm bedtime after stretching it to 10pm all summer. I've been aiming for 10:30 myself, so the earlier we eat and the earlier the kids are in bed, the more doable that timing is. Anyway, Carter and I had a lazy morning because I knew our 11am departure would come quickly! I did get a text from Jacob mid-morning that he had spotted one of his basketball teammates at school, which was a pleasant surprise. He's a couple years older, but it's nice to know he could have a friend, particularly if they end up assigned to the same "house" group, which he'll find out on Thursday. He seems most concerned about lunch, as he's nervous most kids will be buying lunch and he's worried that he won't have anyone to sit with. He'll be eating with his house, as opposed to his class, so I'm sure the unknown has been extra challenging there.
When we picked up Jacob, the first thing he said was, "I love this school!" I was very happy to hear that, but of course his reason was typical Jacob! He found out he can wear sneakers on Thursday, apparently because they'll have time in the gym (possibly as part of their house assignments) and dress shoes would ruin the floor. He's still having issues with other kids wearing casual shoes, but I guess someone did ask about Vans today and a teacher indicated that they're sneakers--essentially insinuating sneakers aren't allowed. So, I'm sticking by my "give it a couple weeks and we'll talk" statement. But he seemed in good spirits, and my hunch was that a lot would get settled on Thursday when he gets more significant time with his class and finds out his house. He seems to be getting to a point where the little details, like what to do with his backpack or where he needs to go first thing, ae bugging him a bit. He seems to feel like he doesn't have any friends or anyone to ask, but I keep trying to tell him it will take time. I remember those feelings from when I went to public high school after nine years in a smaller private school--trying to figure out lockers, feeling alone in home room (and every other class), the panic of the lunch room before you find your crew, figuring out how to change classes, etc. It's a lot. He'll get there, but it's a process.
Two days in, the transition has been sort of odd for me, too. I realized on Wednesday how out of the groove I felt. With Jacob done with camp last week and only a couple days of work, followed by a long weekend and two half days, I've felt totally out of sync. Work felt a bit discombobulated, grocery shopping/dinner felt foreign, and the thought of packing lunches was overwhelming. I've been afraid to get too comfortable because we aren't running on all cylinders yet. Carter hasn't started school yet, there's no homework or paperwork coming home yet, and we won't even settle into our usual routine until next week for various reasons. We're just feeling things out all around and it remains to be seen if it will all work.
Day 3, Thursday:
Because I'm the pro at the first day of school photos, we decided that Craig would take Jacob again and I would handle Carter, whose bus wasn't until 8:09am. It's still making me a little crazy that I still have to wait until next week to see what our real morning routine will look like, since I have allergy shots on Friday that will force me into Carter duty again. So far the earlier bedtimes are going relatively well (complaints and melatonin aside), but I want to be sure that the early wake-ups are sustainable and that the time I've allotted will be enough to pack lunches and ensure everyone is in a good place before Jacob and I need to leave at 7:30. It's making me a little nuts, but much like Jacob and his settling in process, I just have to be patient.
Even though I didn't have to take Jacob, I got up rather early to ensure everything was covered. Jacob was excited to wear sneakers, but still needed a recommendation on his outfit to coordinate. Carter was sound asleep when I went in to lay out his clothes, so that was a bit of a process to get him up and moving. Then I had to pack three lunches for the first time in months. The previous night I had to pack up the rest of Jacob's school supplies and print out his summer reading project, but that made adding his lunch bag to his backpack in the morning a bit of a challenge. Luckily everything else went pretty smoothly, and Craig and Jacob were out the door on time. Carter and I headed down to the bus stop a few minutes early, after pictures, of course!
Our across the street neighbors, who Carter has been playing with a ton, were both there. The oldest is going into second grade, and his younger sister is a Kindergartner. As we waited, the house where the stop is opened up and three more kids came out--a third grade girl, a second grade boy, and a Kindergarten boy. The two Kindergartners were happy to find out they're in the same class, and the second grader has Jacob's second grade teacher, so I told him she's great! Oddly, while the second grader was at the stop last year, I don't ever remember seeing the girl, so I'm not sure if she's a friend who happened to be hanging out there, or what. They took pictures together, but the girl didn't have the same type of biblically-inspired name the boys did, so I'm still not sure what's up there. But it was fun having a whole crew out there--so much so that the next door neighbor even came out to enjoy it! The bus ended up being more than 10 minutes late, and it seemed like perhaps we were one of the first stops because it wasn't that full. We used to be one of the last before it stopped at Jacob's school. I drove by one of Carter's soccer teammates who lives around the corner, maybe 10-15 minutes after pickup, and he was still waiting. So who knows what the route is like now? But there were no tears at our stop, and Carter didn't even look back!
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Blue backpack, fancy red shoes! And yes, it was cool enough for the hoodie!
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It was a blissfully ignorant day at work until about mid-afternoon. I noticed Jacob's school posted pictures of the house ceremony, and when I saw that it looked like each kid sat on a throne on stage and was crowned, I figured Jacob pretty much died from mortification right then and there. Attention is SO not his thing, unless it's sports. That made me a bit nervous! A little after that, I saw Carter's teacher had posted a couple pictures of his class in the app she's using. He looked happy and like he was fitting in just fine! Then Jacob texted me asking where his key was. I answered and asked him about his house assignment, which he answered back positively (more in a second on that). Around 3:30 I went into a meeting and didn't take my phone. Around 4pm, my cube neighbor knocked on my boss' door and said that my phone was blowing up so I might want to check it. Jacob had called me 10 (!) times, left one message, and texted me. Laughably, he mostly just wanted to tell me a little about his day, although he was also having trouble getting his key into the door lock to get him in the house. That happens to me, too, though. He did eventually get in. Of course, because Craig went to the gym and I got in later taking Carter, I couldn't yet get home early like we're planning for most days--hence his urgency. However, he had a great day! He ended up in House O'Dea. Their color is green, and he was extra excited because both his first friend and his basketball teammate are in that house. It sounded like they were inclusive at lunch and he even got a little attention from a couple girls in the house! Haha! Overall, so far that part of school seems to be going well.
On the academic side, he brought home all of his syllabi for us to review and sign. That made me a bit nervous because of all of the supplies he needs to remember for each class, and all of the assignments and late policies he'll have to keep track of. He's not an organized kid, so this will be a challenge. I assume other 6th graders will have a similar learning curve, but perhaps more motivation to learn and improve. My inkling with Jacob is that he just can't be bothered because he has too many other things filling his mind. He'll need to, though. Just remembering folders/binders by color, pens, pencils, paper, notecards, books, etc., it'll be a lot. I didn't have to master that until high school when I finally had a locker. Until then, everything was in my desk and I sat in one room most of the day. It'll be a lot. But hey, at least summer reading is done--and believe it or not, apparently a few kids didn't have it to hand in! Yikes.
As far as Carter, he had a good day, too. He seemed to have a couple more kids than expected in his class that he knew, and he was very happy to see his best buddy at the afterschool program. He likes his teacher so far, too. He's rather stubborn so he doesn't have a lot of positive stuff to say, but hopefully we'll get there. I think he was mostly just happy to get home and run across the street to play!
Day 4, Friday:
At long last, it was Jacob's first actual day of school. After a considerably more relaxed atmosphere for the first three days, I was concerned about what "real school" might bring--hour-long class blocks, real homework, vivid reality of the next seven years of his life...? I figured reality might hit a bit more for Carter, too, since two days of having to wake up early might be starting to compound his regular "tolerance" of school. But both boys had decent days--nothing bad, nothing great--which I guess is as good as anything.
So, the dreaded first week is done. Next week will obviously be a challenge, as we'll finally get on our regular schedule. Five full days. Three lunches to pack. A daily 6am wake-up for me, and a shift in my work schedule. Probably the first round of real homework. I'm actually a little nervous about leaving the house so early compared to Craig and Carter, because I fear my brain won't be awake enough by then to remember random stuff Carter needs for the day, and then I'll have to make Craig scramble when I frantically call his cell. I really need to get better at doing an inventory in the evening, for both kids, and I REALLY need to get better at making Jacob more responsible for his stuff. I want to be gentle since sixth grade is a huge transition--particularly in the manner we're doing it--but I also don't want to fall into bad habits because he desperately needs to learn to pack his own bag and track his own homework. It's definitely a process. But at least we made it this far.
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