Thirty Two: Meet The Teacher

Last night was meet the teacher. Her name is Mrs. Collins. So far, she seems really nice, but the whole meet-the-teacher night is a bit of a beating.

Note to self: For the 2011/2012 school year, don't show up early to "beat the crowd." It only means you will be standing and waiting for an additional 30 minutes with the other antsy people who also wanted to beat the crowd. Some of which don't wear deodorant. In a very, very hot waiting area.

Finally, at not a minute before 5:15 p.m., the class rosters were posted on the wall and we were on our way to see Mrs. Collins. The whole event seems to be an exercise to see if parents still remember how to follow directions.

Which is more challenging than it seems if you haven't done it in 10 years.

The first task was a matter of sorting the bag of school supplies into different boxes spread around the whole room. Like some sort of scavenger hunt, there I was in the middle of the classroom asking if anyone had seen the composition notebook box? Or does it just go in the regular notebook box? Because those are spiral bound? Is that the same thing?

I really didn't want to start Hayden off on the wrong foot.

Of course Hayden doesn't follow directions, his parents don't even know the difference between a COMPOSITION notebook and a SPIRAL notebook.

Meanwhile, Jeff was left at the miniature table filling out a personality analysis on Hayden.

What he responds well to.

Three to five words to describe him.

What he doesn't respond well to.

Etc. Etc. Etc.

I was thankful I had delegated this task when I returned to the desk after the scavenger hunt and found Jeff still hard at work filling out the five page essay. At that point, I was just hopeful that he didn't write anything that would jeopardize Hayden's first grade year.

(I just asked Jeff about the three to five words he chose. "Fast, shy, and something else" was the response, so it sounds like I have nothing to worry about. )

Next came the volunteer "opportunities." I once again opted out of room mother duty (seven years and counting) and instead signed my name next to secret reader on September 17th (shhhhh!) and "at home projects."

Here is to hoping that this school year goes smoothly and that we have very few days of missing puzzle pieces, or turned over cards, or checks on the chalkboard, or whatever negative reinforcement happens to be used in first grade. This is all new territory for us.

P.S. Want to know the most popular name on the roster? There are two Blake's in Hayden's new class. What are the odds?