One month down, nine to go....

I am sure once Christmas is here I will not be able to believe how quickly time went by. Right now though, it seems that the first month of school has just barely passed in a crawl. I keep waiting for the smooth flow of school routine to kick in, but it hasn't. It seems every morning is finding us as tired and cranky as the first day of school, only without the new school excitement. No matter how early or late we go to bed, no matter how prepared we are for the day, no matter how patient I am, it just hasn't kicked in yet. Or maybe, it hasn't been able to kick in because my kids won't let it.

Every morning Megan (grade K) wakes up with a new excuse as to why she isn't going to go to school today. She has faked sick, pretended to be asleep, hid behind a bush and just stood in one spot at the bus stop and refused to move. After two weeks of this I figured out the problem. His name is Joshua. He follows Megan every where at school, he scribbles on her papers. At nap time he will squish his mat by hers even tough she told him not to and the worst thing of all; he won't stop touching her hair. It sounds to me like little Joshua is in love, but it didn't feel like love to Megan it made her miserable. After a talk with the teacher little Joshua is no longer stalking Megan. Although Megan is still the grouchiest little thing in the mornings and she has to go to time out almost every day she no longer tries to get out of school.

Debra (7th grade, first year in middle school) has already been assigned after school detention. Her math class had a sub and it seems that Miss Debra took that as a cue to talk and talk and talk. The sub asked her repeatedly to stop talking, but obviously Debra didn't listen. Now normally getting an after school detention for talking would of resulted in loss of phone privileges for a week. I figure if shes talking so much in school then she has no need for the phone because she already told her friends all they need to know, but Miss mouth Debra could not help but try to lie her way out of punishment. She told me that the only reason she was talking was to make some boy leave her alone. She said whenever the teacher was not looking the boy would bother her and when she would tell him to stop the teacher caught her. Now I don't know about you guys but that sounded pretty lame to me and a quick call to the school revealed that Debra was in fact lying. So now she has lost every privilege known to teens for a week.

Now on to Ashley (11th grade), who has returned to public school for the first time in three years. I took her out of public school because she refused to do well. She honestly thought school was there for her pleasure, to do what she wanted when she wanted. She would not straighten up, so I pulled her out. This year we decided to let her return to public school with the strict conditions that she must behave and do her best on class work. Well her behavior has been excellent. We went to back to school night and all her teachers said she was very respectful and cooperative (I honestly almost passed out when I heard that). I was really proud of her and let her know that. Last week interims came out. Most of her grades were really good. I knew she had been struggling in Algebra and I was curious to see what grade she would bring home. Well it turns out she didn't bring a grade home. She kept coming up with all these stories of why her Algebra teacher hadn't been able to send out interims. So being the patient, loving parent that I am, I gave her all the rope she needed to hang herself. I waited one week and then her Dad and I searched her things. Not only did we find her failing Algebra interim, we found my signature on it. Also there was a note on the interim (from me) asking about tutoring. The teacher said she would loook into it and let me know. Now I have heard of some crazy things before, but a student getting tutoring behind her parents back? Now that is a new one. Needless to say Ashley is on restriction for the foreseeable future.

Last but not least we have Jessica(fifth grade). Jessica is being really good and having no problems at school, but she can't seem to get it together at home. She has no problem waking up for school but I have to constantly keep reminding her to get ready. She will start to get ready and then stop. I will remind her and she will start getting ready again. This goes on for about 30 minutes and then finally she is dressed. She has forgotten her lunch atleast once a week and every day after school she gets in trouble for not putting her book bag and shoes away. We now have a new rule with Jessica; if I have to tell her to put her things away, she gets an early bed time. So rest assured she is getting plenty of sleep because she is always in bed early.

All of the girls are required to find an extra cirricular activity. It can be a sport or club, but they have to be in something. This year Jessica has choosen soccer and Megan is in the girl scouts. She is a little daisy. Ashley and Debra have not signed up for anything. I have given them until tomorrow to sign up for something or I will find something for them. Since neither of them have come to me with an idea I don't imagine they have found an activity. So this afternoon I am calling the school and I am going to find some volunteer programs for my two baddies and from now until spring sport and club sign ups they can help others, since they refuse to help themselves....


Now I could look at the start of our school year in two ways. One: I could look at this start as an omen of things to come. Which means I could have a very long and trying year ahead of me. Or two: I could look at this as a sign of how on top of things I am. While the girls have been bad, they have not gotten away with it. They were caught and caught early. And they will continue to get caught each time they are bad. Also the fun stuff has just started. For instance today is my first day (this year) volunteering at the Elementary school. Being involved with the girls school makes us all happier. Girl Scouts just started last week and soccer will begin soon. We also have some family fun trips coming up (Six Flags this weekend, a birthday party for faith and Megan, and the pumpkin farm). So hopefully throwing some fun into the mix will help lighten the mood. I also plan on vounteering at the middle and high school. Although that does not make the older girls as happy as it makes the younger ones.

We are off to a rocky start, but hey, atleast we were able to get started.....