Back to School!

 I got Mark some "monster" trail mix and wrote him a note saying "I hoped he didn't get any monsters in his class." He never got around to reading the note that day so wasn't sure how the trail mix tied into back to school but I think he has read it by now... Lydia and I will miss these guys!

His backpack looks so big!  

He wanted a Pirate ship one but I couldn't find a good one so I found a Pirate patch and my friend Laura put it on there. He loves it! 

School has been in session now for three days.  Mark is teaching 7th and 8th grade again. Originally he was going to be teaching just 8th grade but that didn't pan out.  He wasn't too upset but would have like to know awhile ago instead of when he went back for teacher work days. I think he did get some monsters but hopefully they won't bother him too much. He can handle it.

We found out Jared's Kindergarten teacher Monday afternoon right before we attended Open House. Jared's Open House was from 4:00 - 6:00 and Mark's was from 5:30 - 7:30. At Kindergarten camp Jared spent a morning with 3 different teachers. He ended up getting Mrs. Franklin who was his favorite of the three he spent time with so he was pretty thrilled.  When I read him the letter he said "I am having the best luck!" He also got put in the same class as his friend Tyler (Shaw, his family just moved here from Utah) from church and could not be happier about it. I am so glad they ended up together. It is nice to have a built in buddy. When we got to the classroom we found Jared's name on a table and he was sitting next to Tyler so he was so happy.  My first impression of Mrs. Franklin was that she seemed a little stand offish. We had brought a cup cup filled with chocolate to her and when Jared gave it to her she seemed rather unimpressed. I tired to engage her in some basic questions and she did not seem to want to talk. I don't know if she was nervous or distracted but it was not a great impression. In my mind I had imagined kindergarten teachers to be really cheerful and welcoming and excited and she was none of those things. One very friendly girl (we had never met before, she was probably a 2nd grader) asked Jared who his teacher was and after we told her she said, "She has a really clean classroom, she is really good at cleaning up." We didn't know how to respond to that....  Clean is good? We left the classroom after dropping off his school supplies and some attempted conversations and walked around the school a bit. They had popsicles outside so we grabbed some and then Mark went off to his Open House and we went home.

The first day of school was Wednesday and sadly it was not a very good day for Jared. I asked him to rate the day on a scale of 1 - 10, 10 being awesome and he gave the day a 5. I was so sad for him! He told me that two of the kids at the table were teasing him. It made me want to cry and it made me so mad!  He couldn't tell me what they said but it really affected him. As I asked him questions it seemed like school was fine, it was just those 2 kids so that was something.  I asked the same question yesterday and he gave the day a 7 and today he gave it a 9.  I think he will be just fine once he gets into the routine of school. I know that he was completely exhausted on Wednesday. I walked him in each day and met him out front and by Friday his teacher smiled at me and said "Have a great weekend"so we are making progress. I mentioned to Julie (Tyler's mom) that Jared said some kids were teasing him but I wasn't sure what they said and she said Tyler said the same thing. I asked her if he knew what they said (I was dying of curiosity) and she said she would ask him.  Turns out they said that Jared was too tall to be in Kindergarten and that Tyler was too short so he should be in preschool. Jared is a pretty sensitive kid so he took it pretty hard.  He is also not assertive at all. I told him that if they teased him all three days this week we could talk to Mrs. Franklin but that he needed to tell them to please stop and say why it was bothering him. Julie told me that Tyler would stick up for Jared if they did it again.  She said he is s sweet goofy kid but an explosive one too, he would call those kids out if he felt it was needed.  I can't imagine Jared ever doing that so I am glad Tyler is there. Thankfully they did not say anything again. I hope Jared can settle into a good routine and have a positive experience at school.  I didn't cry as I dropped him off but did feel really sad as I walked back to the car.  Its such a long school day.  School starts at 8:00 and he gets out at 2:00. I so wish he could do half day we will get into a good routine and I know he will be fine.  We did a fun little back to school photo session a few days before school started.  Jared was such good sport.  It was fun to take him to school and do this so we didn't have to the first day. 

I didn't need this many pictures of him starting school but I took them anyway.  

 We did this apple on the head photo last year and he wanted to do it in every picture this year...

 Baker Butler Bears

His teacher sent home this little poem about "jitters" and some "jitter glitter" from Open House. Jared loved it! He put some under his pillow and then kindly sprinkled some under Mark and mines pillows.  I am happy he is in school but its a big adjustment for us. We have never really had to be ready for the day early in the morning. Jared is doing great getting dressed (he recently learned how to tie his shoes and loves doing it!!) and is ready on time but I am having to get ready super fast if I want to exercise before I take him which I do.  We did pretty well this week, Lydia was actually the slowest one. So far in her life I have rarely left the house with her without doing her hair but this week I had to and I will just have to let it go, its fine! I hope it turns out to be a great year!