weekend update.

Has anyone noticed that I am desperately trying to post more often around here? Because even though I would rate all of my posts a D- this week, at least I slapped them up here, and that’s half the battle. Go me! With that, it’s time for the weekend update:

To which I say, I don’t have a weekend update right now. Or, I do, but I can’t share it here, because there is a surprise party involved and shhhhhhh. Other than that, this weekend we have to get a pumpkin and wings for Jane’s Halloween costume (she’s going to be a princess fairy ballerina, obvs) , do homework with Jane, and continue to celebrate my everlasting 39th birthday, this time with my in-laws. I like to keep the party going for at least a month, you know? And who am I to refuse lunch and cake and presents? I may be many things, but I am not rude.
 

What are you up to?
 

SIDE NOTE HAVING NOTHING TO DO WITH WEEKEND STUFF BUT NOT WORTHY OF ITS OWN POST:Get this - I was just looking at Jane's school notices this week, and saw that she has November 6, 12, 22 and 23 off, and early dismissal November 19, 20 and 21. OMG. I had no idea that when she started school, she'd barely be going to school. Do you think they'd notice if I stuffed her in my purse and brought her to work? Working moms for the win, once again!

 

and now it's October, just like I wanted.

In August, as kindergarten loomed closer and closer, I remember saying, “I just want it to be October.”

 

Not because I wanted to rush the end of summer – or my BIRTHDAY – but I wanted Jane’s first month of school and my new flipped work schedule to have already happened, so we’d be fully immersed in our new schedule so I could stop worrying about it. I wanted a better idea of what our new reality is, at least until summer (don’t ask me what our schedule will look like then; I have absolutely no idea. And you would think, DUH, of course not, it’s only October, but I already have parents asking me what camps Jane is going to do next summer and it’s enough to make your head explode.)

 

And here we are. The month is over. We are immersed. And so far, so good. But what a change. Daycare was such a wonderful thing – if I had a doctor’s appointment, or just wanted to run quick to Target after work, or I had to help my mom with something, or I didn’t feel good, I could just leave Jane there for a little bit longer. No biggie. But school doesn’t let you do that, see. School is very particular about you not leaving your kid there for longer than they are supposed to be there, lest you hear from the Department of Children and Families. So now Jane comes with me everywhere, pretty much. (Except the doctor. I will not let this happen. I know there are other mothers who take their kids to all of their personal appointments, but I am not one of them. I would like to have my EKG or lady exam or what have you IN PEACE. That’s AMANDA TIME. Sad but true.)

 

So our mornings are full of chores, usually. Cleaning, library, shopping – things like that. I need to get her fed with lunch and out the door to the bus stop by 11:15. After the bus comes I drive off to work – I basically trail the bus for about a mile or so until it turns one way and I turn the other. Once I’m out of work, I’m right back to school to pick Jane up from her after-school program. Then it’s general mayhem, dinner, bath, TV, books, bed.

 

There’s not much me time these days (save for the doctor’s visits, of course). It’s something to get used to. I’m not saying it’s bad – we all know how I like to be busy - it’s just different. It’s also sometimes hard to feel like my brain isn’t all melty by the time I get to work at 11:45, after parenting for the previous six hours. Tylenol is my friend.

 

ETA: This next paragraph is super-random.

 

September ramped up other things as well – theater, dance class, PTO. I volunteered to co-chair the PR committee for Jane’s school. The variety show my theater group was going to put up in October has now been moved to December. I don’t have Jane’s Halloween costume yet (she will be a butterfly fairy princess. You heard right.) I’m off to NYC for the weekend in a couple of weeks. I miss it. I just plowed through my book club book over the past two days because we have a meeting on Friday. We read The Financial Lives of the Poets. Loved. I’m trying to exercise again – totally got off track after vacation in July. I need a pre-holiday detox, need to get healthy so I can eat all of the cookies I want come December.

 

How’s your October looking?

weekend update, and other random things.

Hello, hello. Sooo happy it’s Friday. Now that Jane’s in school the weekdays are so crazy – I was out doing things Monday (dance class), Tuesday (PTO meeting), and Wednesday (theater meeting) nights, and on Thursday my old friend acid reflux decided to rear its ugly head. Gross.

 

I’m co-directing a fundraiser/variety show for my theater group, and a lot of this week has been about solidifying a cast. We had to reschedule the show from October to December, but I think things are in pretty decent shape, for the time being. This was supposed to be an easy project – not so much. Not so much AT ALL.

 

I actually liked my first PTO meeting! I’m such a nerdy joiner. I’m pretty sure I volunteered to be the public liaison for the PTO. I figure the only way I’ll know what is going on at Jane’s school is to get involved. And she’s too young to be embarrassed by me – for now, anyway.

 

Have you been watching any of the new shows this fall? My tally right now:

 

Shows I love: The New Normal (and I especially love love love Andrew Rannells, who I saw inThe Book of Mormon)

 

Shows I like, and will continue watching for now: The Mindy Project, Go On

 

Shows that get one more watch and if it doesn’t get better, DELETE: Revolution

 

Shows I couldn’t make it 10 minutes through: Men with Kids. Or Guys with Kids? Whatever it’s called. Sucked. So hard.

 

So this weekend we’re shaking it up by not being at the boat the entire time. We just got home from the back to school picnic at Jane’s school. Tomorrow night we have a 30^th birthday party to go to for a friend of mine. Sunday is my birthday – and yes, I believe we’ll be at the boat. Hoping to take a trip over here. And Greg’s making me a cake. And I plan to eat an indecent amount of it.

 

I hope you have a magnificent weekend, all y’all!

 

PS My friend Bryan, who is a theater student at NYU, has started up a fancy blog (which I named). Please go check out AusterMania.

back to school - kindergarten edition

I have been so emotional over the past week.

 

And even though I am an emotional person (WHAM! SHOCKER!), I was actually surprised by this.

Way back five years ago, when I first sent Jane to daycare (and struggled mightily), I thought that sending her off to kindergarten would be a snap. That I would be used to sending her somewhere for the day, and she would be used to school, other kids, teachers and the classroom setting. No big deal.

 

That was before I realized what an integral part of our lives her daycare would become. She made some great friends, I made some great friends (hello Friday night moms’ happy hour!), she formed super-tight bonds with some amazing teachers, and along the way learned her letters, her numbers, discovered her love of drawing, learned countless songs, learned how to fight and negotiate with other kids (important for an only child!), and evolved into a magically sassy and delicious five-year-old.

 

On her last day of preschool, I felt very disoriented. It sounds so cliché, but seriously – where did the time go, you guys? No, really? How did five years pass so quickly? I know every parent on earth says the same thing, but it’s true. I have no idea how we got to the moment we were at this morning, waiting for the big yellow bus to show up at the corner of our street.

 

My fears for her are countless. Will she make friends? Will kids pick on her, or bully her? Will she cry? Will she know where to go and what to do? Will she love her teacher? Will she learn easily, or will she struggle? Will she… Will she… Will she….?

 

I had a vision of how this morning was going to go. Jane has always had difficulty with transitions, and every year at daycare, when she moved into the next room, she cried and cried. Drop-offs were a nightmare. She doesn’t like unfamiliar situations – and that was at the SAME SCHOOL, with the SAME KIDS, in the SAME BUILDING. This morning required her to go, alone, onto a big bus, off to a place that, sure, she has visited, but didn’t really know.

 

She told me many times over the past few days how nervous she was, especially about getting on the bus. She would get teary talking about it. She would mention how none of the kids in her class will know her name. How she doesn’t WANT to go to kindergarten. I had an image of her crying, face pressed up against the window on the bus as it pulled away. I was certain this was how it was going to go.

 

Because she is in afternoon kindergarten, her bus wasn’t set to come until 11:23. This morning felt endless. She, Greg and I got to the bus stop about 15 minutes early, and then the bus was about 10 minutes late, so we were standing there for a long time. Jane, at this point, was PSYCHED. I, at this point, had an incredibly upset stomach, a giant lump in my throat, and extreme anxiety that once we saw that bus, she would dissolve into tears.

 

But when it came down the street, she was ready. She got on that bus like a CHAMP. Waved goodbye; no tears. None for her, anyway. I held mine back until she left.

 

***

She had an awesome day. To my great relief, she knows someone in her class - there is a set of twins from her daycare that is going to her school, and one of them is in her class, and she mentioned another friend that she made. The best part of her day, of course, was snack.  

 

I am so, so, so very proud of my girl.

overhead projectors are amazing, and other kindergarten thoughts

The best part of kindergarten so far, for Jane



So, yesterday was Jane’s second kindergarten orientation meeting. A lot of people have been telling me they can’t believe our district holds so many meetings, but to be honest, I’m happy for it. Having the kids go in monthly to get used to the classrooms and the teachers will hopefully pay off in September with fewer tears (for the kids – don’t worry, I’ll be crying like a maniac. Please send wine.).

ANYWAY, in February we had the first meeting that the kids came to as well (January was just the parents meeting). And, if you recall, Jane had a fit and I had to stay in the classroom with her, instead of going upstairs with all of the other parents. And of course I totally get she was uncomfortable hanging out with a teacher and a bunch of kids she didn’t know at all – and certainly didn’t want to be abandoned – and, let’s face it, I’m super-cool and I assume everyone feels sad when I leave them – but I just wanted her to be OK with it, you know? It seemed like all of the other kids had absolutely no problem, which was kind of shocking to me, actually. I just want her to be happy, and feel safe. I have so many feeeeeelings about this. And a lot of them are stomachache-inducing. Don’t worry – I project none of this on her.

So we’ve been gearing her up for weeks about yesterday’s meeting. We promised her that she could go ice skating with Greg if she was brave and strong and stayed in the classroom herself and let us go up to the parents’ meeting. She was cool going in, but she started to wobble once we go into the crowded classroom with unfamiliar people (and this time she was with the other teacher, so even that part wasn’t familiar). As the parents were leaving, her eyes started filling up and I could see we were going to go down the same weepy path again – until I caught the teacher’s eye, and she asked Jane if she wanted to hold her hand. As soon as that happened, Jane took the teacher’s hand, put on her brave face and waved us goodbye. (Side note: I really like both teachers so far, but this one reminds me of Fran Drescher slightly, in a very positive way. So she has the edge, not that we have a choice.)

And after a 45-minute meeting on the school budget, a typical kindergartener’s day, and plans for upcoming orientation meetings, we headed back to the classrooms to scoop up the kids. There was Jane in the pack with the rest, absolutely fascinated by the overhead projector the teacher was using to show them some artwork. So much so that she asked for one for Christmas. (Which was the perfect opportunity to tell her that Santa doesn’t bring overhead projectors – that’s something special that kindergarteners get to use.)

I love how much this school does to get the kids and parents geared up for kindergarten. I know it’s going to be rough (because I know Jane), but I couldn’t expect more out of the school and faculty in terms of easing the students in to the shocker that is public school.

Oh! And I put myself on the mailing list for the PTO. Which feels like the most grown-up thing I’ve ever done IN MY LIFE.

Here’s hoping next month goes as well….

PS They should really serve cocktails at budget meetings. Just sayin’.