And then there was quiet

Last night began The School Schedule. I had to make sure that dinner was on the table at 6pm because after dinner is homework time and bedtime. Of course we didn’t have any homework last night, but that’s okay because dinner didn’t happen until 6:30 anyway. I’m out of practice. Instead of homework I had all the kids participate in fixing their lunches. We’ll be doing home-packed lunches this year because Gleek is mildly lactose intolerant and I want to have more control over what she is fed. Also Link and Kiki are both really tired of school lunches, so they’re glad to do a litle extra work in the evening. Last night everyone was glad to fix lunches. I doubt that enthusiasm will last through the year.

The bedtime schedule was also a little rusty. I was worn out before we were halfway through with it. It is a very intensive time of day for me because I have to pay full attention to keep all the kids on track. If I wander away for a minute or two, then the kids get sidetracked and I have to work hard to get us all back on course. Practice will make it easier.

This morning I hauled all the kids out of bed at 6:55. It is supposed to be 6:45, but I was running 10 minutes behind schedule. We had scripture reading and prayers (about 10 minutes) then they all sat down to breakfast. This morning they were all wide eyed and enthusiastic about the coming day. We’d been to open house the night before so the kids had seen their classrooms and met their teachers. Link was extremely pleased that his teacher is young as well as male. I’m already pleased with the teacher because he walked right up to Link and started interacting with him. I can tell already that this will be Link’s favorite teacher ever. Gleek isn’t as focused on the teacher, but her classroom has desks! and cubbies! and carpeted steps! She spent the open house jumping around on these steps. I took a moment to sidle up to the teacher and mention oh so casually that Gleek is something of a high energy person. The teacher responded with a twinkle in her eye that she could tell, but that it was developmentally typical for first graders and that she’s glad to see it. I think I’m going to be able to work with this teacher.

It is always tricky to know how much to tell a teacher before the school year begins. Part of me wants to corner the teacher and explain exactly how wonderful and special my child is. I want to explain where problem spots are likely to be and how we handle them at home. But pinning a teacher down that way isn’t a good idea. They’ve got 27 other sets of parents who want to do the same thing. The teacher isn’t likely to remember anything of a long list of instructions, but she just might remember a single tip if it is given at the right moment. So that is what I try to do. This time I mentioned that Gleek sometimes has to push at boundaries before she’ll accept them, but once she accepts them she’s very good at staying inside. The teacher again nodded and said it was common. In a week or so, when she’s had a chance to deal with Gleek more, I’ll have another conversation with her. At that point the teacher may have already experienced frustrating behavior and will be looking for solutions. Then she’ll be glad to hear how I handle things at home.

I drove Link and Gleek to school this morning and listened to their chatter. Link was very pleased about his new backpack which has a cellphone pocket on the strap and a little ipod pocket on the inside with a little hole for headphones to string through. These things are very cool even though he owns neither a cellphone nor an ipod. He has decided to keep this backpack forever so that when he does get these cool electronic devices, he will be prepared. I’m glad that he likes his new bag because he really needed to not carry a Hamtaro backpack into fourth grade. Gleek’s chatter was mostly her trying to wrap her head around being a big kid. She commented that she’ll be going to school and coming home at the same time as Link. She talked about things she’d seen in her classroom. She talked about getting to have lunch at school. She and Link did some teacher comparisons.

When we arrived both Link and Gleek shot off to their classrooms without a backward glance. Parents were invited for a 10 minute story in Gleek’s class, so I followed along at my own pace. In the classroom Gleek was perfect. No jumping off of steps today. This was the first day of First Grade and careful attention must be paid. She sat ramrod straight, hands in her lap, her whole attention on the story. I watched her there, so tiny. She’s small even in comparison with her peers. She was wearing new clothes and her hair carefully brushed and barretted. Even though she sat perfectly still, there was something intense about her. She wasn’t just listening. She was Listening with her whole self. The bouncing off the walls will come later I’m sure.

And then I walked away and came home to my quiet, empty house. Kiki is home today because her first day was yesterday. She’ll go back again tomorrow. Patches is still here. And yet the house and the day feel spacious. I’m going to have long stretches of time to accomplish things. I’ll have to give some thought about how to make good use of the time rather than squandering it.

It is so quiet with the kids at school.