Welcome Back to Elementary School

My younger son and Chase found out how small the drinking fountains are.

When I think back to when my sons were in elementary school, I have to smile. Those were probably the most-fun, most-enjoyable nine years of my life. We loved our neighborhood school and our dedicated teachers, some of whom I’m happy to call my friends.

So I was glad when my younger son and I returned to that warm haven recently to celebrate its 20-year anniversary. My “third son,” Chase, joined us, it being easy to make the weeknight trek from Rice University in Houston.

I wasn’t surprised that I felt nostalgic walking through those halls and into those classrooms where my sons got a great educational foundation. This was where I learned how much I enjoyed volunteering, as I spun a career that included PTO president, editor of the school newsletter, room mom numerous times, grade-level coordinator a couple times, and founder of the tech team (helping in the computer lab was my specialty). It was a wonderful way to get to know the kids and the teachers.

Kindergarten chairs are still tiny.

As for the boys, they were amazed how small everything was. My younger son couldn’t believe that he used to fit in the little kindergarten chairs and didn’t have to bend down to drink from the water fountain when he was a student there.

A lot has changed for my little guy . . . and his former teachers who attended the reunion. Just take a look:

Then (with his kindergarten teacher in 2001) . . .

Yes, his school actually had a “graduation” ceremony after the kids finished kindergarten.

. . . and now!

His kindergarten teacher, Paula Germany, had such a fun classroom with lots of things to do. She taught him to read with the “I See Sam” books.

Then (with his first-grade teacher) . . .

My son made a great transition to first grade, thanks to his inspiring teacher, Kelley Falleroni.

. . . and now

He first became a Power Ranger during that year. Good to see how he much he’s matured!

Then (with his third-grade teacher in 2003) . . .

When the kid (as a preschooler) met his older brother’s second-grade teacher, Julie Cole, he couldn’t wait to be in her class. He cried when he found out that she was moving up to third grade when he finally made it to second grade.

. . . and now

He was lucky enough to have Julie for third and fourth grade, as she moved up again with most of her kids. He’ll always have a soft spot in his heart for her.

Then (the last day of fifth grade) . . .

The kid’s fifth-grade year was bittersweet for me, as he prepared to move on to middle school. Fortunately, Melissa Richardson helped make his last year of elementary school a fun learning experience.

. . . and now (sprinkling luck)

I think what my younger son liked best about seeing his former teachers is that he’s now taller than all of them except for Melissa. I enjoyed watching him interact with them as an almost-adult, as well as seeing how glad they were to visit with him. They remembered him as warmly as he did them.

Now I can’t wait until the next elementary school reunion!

Homework for Parents and Students

The #1 son starts to work on his day two homework.

Day one of school meant homework that all the moms I know dread: Filling out endless forms. Our school district isn’t technologically advanced enough to put these documents online; instead we fill out the same information (student name, parent name, student ID number, address, phone, and e-mail address) numerous times. Total madness! It’s almost as if the forms are sponsored by the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Association! Anyone else have an aching wrist?

I e-mailed the school district and was told that the forms, including the number of times signatures are required, have been minimized as much as possible. Yes, and I’m Mrs. America! Obviously, none of our district’s administrators are filling out these forms! Otherwise, I think they’d try to do a better job to truly minimize our work.

Hard at work

All of that was behind us on day two (yesterday). This time only the boys had homework. As usual, the #1 son came home and got right to work, just like he’s done since he was in first grade, and I told him he couldn’t play until he finished his homework. He’s so organized that sometimes I wonder whose child he really is!

#2 takes a Spanish 2 quiz on the iMac.

Then there’s this character. When the #2 son comes home from school, he always throws his backpack on the floor and declares he’s exhausted and hungry and can’t possibly do his homework for awhile. Which is when the mean mom says, “No TV until your homework is done.”

#2 son: “But how can I eat my snack without watching TV?”

Mean mom: “You could read a book while eating the snack.”

#2 son: “A book?!? Are you serious?”

What was I thinking?!?

The #2 son’s Spanish 2 homework yesterday was on the computer. Not a problem, except that the quiz had to be printed out. That was a problem, because it couldn’t be copied and pasted into a word processing document. The #2 son, who had been doing his best to avoid having his photo taken for this blog post, needed the kind of help only a tech-savvy mom could supply.

Pose for the camera in return for homework-saving aid?

#2 will smile for tech support.

What a smart kid!

This All Ends Monday

The #2 son sleeps soundly in bed.

The other day the #2 son, my all-star sleeper, woke up from a sound snooze in bed . . . only to move over to the couch in the family room.

Sleeping beauty on the couch

Where he promptly fell asleep again. And didn’t wake up until about 10 a.m.

As I watched him sleep so blissfully, I had one thought in mind:

Enjoy it while you can! This all ends Monday.

That’s the first day of high school for him . . . and the first day as a senior for his big brother. School starts at 7:30 a.m., which means both of them must be up at 6:15 a.m. As in way earlier than they wake up now!

I think there will be some sleepy, grumpy teens in this house Monday morning!

Summer Vacation is Flying By

The boys' high school

A moment of silence for my two sons, if you will. In exactly two weeks, high school starts. The #1 son will be a senior (huge lump in mom’s throat). The #2 son will be a freshman (yet another huge lump in mom’s throat).

No more staying up until midnight—bedtime on school nights is 10 p.m., because school starts at 7:30 a.m. Which will be a huge adjustment for the #2 son—middle school began at 8:50 a.m., plus he’s not a morning person at all. Every morning will be like a Monday for that kid.

With two weeks to go, it’s time to assess clothing needs (not hard with boys who think that being “in fashion” means that they don’t have too many stains on their shirts, which they’ve tried to wear all week), as well as replenishing the school supplies baskets (very handy for those “gotta have it by tomorrow, Mom!” moments that the #2 son is so fond of springing on me late at night).

The #2 son's backpack

When I saw the #2 son’s backpack in his bedroom yesterday, I figured I’d move it into the family room and make sure it hasn’t sprouted a hole or two over the summer. But when I lifted it, I discovered something very unwelcome:

It was heavy. Oh, oh! Then I looked inside it.

Inside the "empty" backpack

Hmmmm . . . it was not empty. Oops! Looks like I forgot to look through it once school ended in early June. It’s moments like this that makes my next-door neighbor JJ, the organizational whiz, shake her head and consider us to be hopeless when it comes to having our act together. You really don’t want to misplace anything in our house, that’s for sure. You might not find it for years!

Messy, messy binders

The good news is that it looks like the #2 son didn’t kill all his binders for a change. I’m not sure what he does to regularly break his notebooks, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it has to do with hitting other boys with them. He can be a tad aggressive where “tad” equals “too much for Mom to take.”

The bad news? I need to clean out those binders. I’m hoping I won’t find any papers with information that needed to be filled out during the school year, which made teachers think I was an absentee parent. The #2 son tends to be, shall I say, a little less timely with his paperwork than he should be . . . where “timely” equals “stuffed in his locker until the end of the school year.”

When it’s then shoved into a binder, which is put into a backpack that lays untouched until the start of the next school year. Yes, poor organization is merely a cycle like the seasons, the birds flying south and then north, and sunrise and sunset. Cue the fiddler on the roof!

But, like Scarlett O’Hara, I’m not going to think about that now. We’ve still got two more glorious weeks! Cleaning out those binders? Fiddle-de-dee!! I’ll think about that tomorrow!

No More School, No More Books, All the Teachers Have Happy Looks!

 

The #1 son's second-semester schoolwork

That’s all she wrote. Today is the last day of school. The #1 son, exempt from all his finals, went to school for about an hour. The #2 son only has a Spanish I final to take, and then he’s done. It’s the end of an era for #2, as he sheds his top dog middle-school status and becomes low man on the high school totem pole, playing opposite his big brother, who will be a big senior on campus.

I tried not to feel too nostalgic as I dropped the lazy #2 off at our neighborhood middle school (where “neighborhood” means less than a mile from our house) for the last time. I’m finishing up six straight years there, and it’s hard not to feel attached to a place that’s nurtured your kids, trying to get the best out of them and prepare them for high school. It’s the end of an era for me, too.

But I’m not going to miss those middle-school years at all. They involve too many hormonal kids who are too full of themselves for their own good. The #1 son’s three years of high school so far have been more on an even keel, with #1 being able to stay in his little world without a lot of hassles from kids who have nothing better to do than bully those who don’t fit in their same mold. I’m hoping for more of the same for both boys next year.

The #1 son is about to catch a disc thrown by the off-camera Mister.

Now it’s summer! Which means early-morning summer conditioning at the high school for #2, working at dad’s business for #1 (very reluctantly!), and several trips. Oh, and there no doubt will be plenty of splashing in our backyard pool!

The #2 son reaches for the disc as he splashes into the pool.

Every year the boys like to invent new games to play in the pool. So far this year, discs have been all the rage. They’ve set up the portable backyard disc golf baskets so they can try to throw the discs into it from the pool. Monday they had a blast trying to catch discs thrown by the Mister as they jumped into the pool. Timing is everything!

The #1 son tries to grab before he splashes. Is he walking on the water?

#2 also is trying to perfect the walking-on-water trick!

As for me, I’ll be doing my best to enjoy every minute of not having to make lunches every morning, scurry kids out the door on time, and help complete projects at the last minute. “No more school, no more books, all the moms have happy looks!”

Well, at least until mid-August!