I don't know how constructive this will be or if it will be more of a rant. Let me start by saying that I was in the ER with Kevin (again) the night before and was just exhausted. The kids were all hyper, I had to go to "Meet the Teacher" night with all four of them as the solo parent. The school is always overcrowded and I was just not in the right frame of mind to deal with all of that. So, perhaps I'm just being a crank.
Let me get the main point out of the way, and then go on with my pity party. I really don't like meet the teacher night. It's supposedly for parents to see the class and just spend two or so minutes with the teacher and then leave. But that's not how it goes. You get a room full of lingering parents who think that their child is just the best child to ever grace the face of the planet, and don't you think so teacher? And oooooooh look! Isn't that the most beautiful picture you have ever seen? Can you believe that their child did such a good drawing? I know! It's just unbelievable how talented their precious little dew drop is!
Maybe it's just a problem at the school my kids attend that a lot of parents talk loud enough to be overheard so you can pay attention to how wonderful their child is. It's been my experience since Lilly's been in Kindergarten, though, and I hate it. My approach is "Hi, how are you, I'm Sara, Lilly/Madeline/Victoria's mom. How's the year going so far. Any issues? No, good. Well, I'll see you later!" And then I say "OK, Lilly/Madeleine/Victoria, show me what you want me to see". I get a kid guided tour where I oooh and aaahh privately over what they show me and then we go home. It just sucks the energy out of me to listen to all of the praises a lot of the parents heap on to their kids. But, let's face it, the yellow, red and orange finger paintings all of Madeleine's class did all looked pretty much the same. Really, I do care about your kids artistic ability, but only in the same way that you care about my kid's artistic ability. So, just keep it to yourself, mmmkay? (Yes, I am a bitch.)
Any other mommies with school aged kids out there experience this? Am I being a big crank? Let me have it, I can take it!
So, on with the pity party. We set out last night at 6:30. Living right behind the school, it took us less than a minute to get there, but by the time we got there I was ready to inflict great amounts of harm on the kids. I told Lilly and Madeleine I would meet them in their classrooms and they took off. But Victoria and Rosemary took off with them. No, that was not the plan! So I yelled for them to come back and told them that they will stay with me or I would chose a family at random and they would go home with that family. (OK, no I didn't tell them that, but I was tempted. They were bouncing off the walls since about 4:30 that day and I was at the end of my rope already.)
We get to Victoria's class and... no teacher. OK then. We wait around a bit and... no teacher. I decided to go out front to buy them the one cookie each I said they could have and there is Victoria's teacher at the bake stand selling goodies. OK, then, let's go see Madeleine's teacher.
We get to Madeleine's class and I say hello to Mme. Grouette and took the time to tell her about Kevin's condition. It's usually something I tell the teacher's during the first week of school, but I forgot this year. So, we said hi and I told her that from time to time there will be a note saying there was an emergency and it's always having to do with Kevin's brain, but I that I like to keep the teacher's informed of things like surgery etc. when life is a little more hectic for us.
Then on to Lilly's class. Lather, rinse, repeat. But for both of those visits, all four of my kids were out of control. So, we get outside of Lilly's portable and I send the kids away to play for a bit, hoping it would burn off some energy. I chatted with some parents I knew for about 10 minutes and then gathered Victoria and Rosemary to go to Victoria's class. I told Lilly and Madeleine to stay out of the classrooms and just go home when their friends did.
We get to Victoria's class and there's still no teacher. So I have Victoria show me stuff around her class, show me some stuff she did, grab her shoes that she's supposed to bring home every day and then we head on home causing Victoria and Rosemary to dissolve into a fit of tears because they want to play with Lilly and Madeleine. But, it's 7:15 by this point and they have to get to bed. So, I go home and tuck them in to bed and go to collect Lilly and Madeleine so they can have a shower before bed.
I send those two home and go for a walk to hopefully ease my frame of mind. I walk around the park for about 20 minutes, and head on home. On the way home, I see a plastic fireman's hat that I pick up to give to the school, thinking they could use it. When I get back to the school, I see them tearing down the baked goods stand and ask if they want some help. And in turn for that I get attitude. Big attitude. This is from the teacher whose class Victoria was supposed to be in but ended up needing to be switched. Thank. God. She is a royal bitch. I was met with resistance from everything I talked to her about the one day Victoria was in her class. A friend of mine had an awful experience with her. And then she bitched at me when I asked if she wanted my help? So, I just held my hands up and said "fine" and walked away. (She was pissy that there were a bunch of unlabelled containers that people didn't pick up and when I asked if she wanted help she said in a snotty tone "Well, unless all of these are yours, there's nothing you can do." So I jokingly said "You know, I live right over there (pointing to my yard) and I can easily take them off your hands!" M. Baugley laughed, she glowered. "What, are you going to go get a container? I don't have time for this." So, that is when I walked away.)
I went to see the principal to ask her a couple of questions and to give her the hat I found, which she said could be put to good use in one of the Kindergarten classes. And then she complimented me on my jacket (for all of you visiting from The Parent Path, yeah, that jacket. The upholstery one. See, Joann and I are not the only ones who think it rocks!) I then left and went home.
So, along with my usual "Meet the Teacher" issues, I had the extra bonus of super hyper kids, being overly tired from the ER visit the night before, having to solo the visit and a snotty teacher. I am going to add another level to my own personal hells. There is buffet hell, and now there is "Meet the Teacher" hell. But, on a plus side, I really like all of the kids' teachers!
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