Week One

All in all, I would say that week one at Snowden went pretty well. The biggest headache was drop off and pick up. It gets crazy up in there! I did both on Monday and Tuesday and was ready to not do either by Wednesday, but we worked out at system.

I would like to thank James, the most hilarious crossing guard ever, for getting me through the week.

Satchel nearly died one day when I said, "Goodbye, I love you" and tussled his hair. I have been warned. Likewise, I fixed Jiro's shirt for him and he nearly burst into tears, "I'm going back to Evergreen if you keep embarrassing me!" he cried. (I fixed his shorts the day before.)

Oh my.

I do enjoy seeing all of the other parents I know in the mornings. They make me feel not so clueless.

However, butts in seats at 7:25am is just crazytown. Warren and I are having a much harder time adjusting. I am used to getting up at 5:30am, working out from 6-7am, and then waking the boys (including Warren) up at 7:30am, sometimes 8:00am. Now, we all get up at 6:00am. On the bright side, I have no incentive to skip my workouts. If I don't work out, I only get 30 minutes extra sleep, instead of 2 hours! Plus, if I do workout, then Warren gets to be in charge of breakfast. Hmmm...but on the days I don't work out, I can get to work an hour early and leave an hour early. That's nice.

Satchel really wants to walk home, but Jiro doesn't. For now, they are walking to a nearby, but undisclosed, location to hang with friends for a bit before being picked up by Warren.

Another issue has been lunch. I pack it, but they don't eat it. Well, Satchel at least ate some of his, but Jiro was pretty much like, "I don't want anything." One of Jiro's complaints was the smell of his lunchbox, and subsequent substitute lunchboxes.

Apparently they had hamburgers and French fries one day last week and Jiro asked if he could eat at school sometimes. Um, yes! I'd happily send $2 a day not to pack lunches. After reading him the menu for the rest of last week and this week, he changed his mind. He really just likes hamburgers and fries. I was able to procure a lunchbox, lunchbag, really, that he approved of and am happy to report that he ate all of his lunch yesterday. Woot!

Satchel had a minor freakout about whether his messenger bag was suitable for carrying between classes, but thankfully that worked out. "They said NO backpacks," he moaned. He was terrified he'd get TWO checksf or not obeying! I pointed outthat he was not in fact using a backpack and suggested that he actually ask his teacher if his bag was appropriate and believe it or not, he did. And it is. Crisis averted.

Oh and then there is homework! Ugh. At least it isn't everyday. Seriously, I tried helping Satchel and uh, what is all that stuff? Warren did homework duty last night and having just completed a masters in elementary education seemed to make him a much more suitable helper.

(Warren, please don't ever leave town again.)

Ok, a few cute things. One day Satchel had the word "binomial" written on his hand. He said they discussed the binomial number system in class and he wanted to do a report on it JUST FOR FUN. (I write things on my hand all the time.) It would have been extra cute if he actually did the report.

After school most days, the kids played outside with the other kids on the street. We had to holler for them to come in when it got dark. It was almost like 1980!

Jiro fell asleep at 5pm on Saturday and did not wake up until 7:30am on Sunday.

Finally, our TV went out on Sunday. Amazing how much smoother the mornings go when there is no TV to distract the monkeys. They are very sad though and keep asking when it will start working again.