Last Day

Today is the last day of school. I'm not really looking forward to summer, because I have to spend WAY too much time with my kids, but there are a few good things about not having to go to school. First, I don't have to drop Sarah off, kick and screaming and crying for me, and feel like a total loser as I walk out the door. Even though it only lasts five minutes and everyday she says she had a great day at school, it still makes me feel crappy. Also, it doesn't make me sad or sympathetic, it just pisses me off. It does not endear her to me in any way. Second, we're always late everywhere we go, and this is one less thing we have to be worried about being late for. Of course there will be camps this summer, but most of them start a tiny bit later and the kids will be more excited to go to those. So, I'll try to muster a "Yay, it's summer!".


If I had to grade myself, and of course I do, I'd give myself a C+ this year. Just above average, which for a stay at home mom isn't that good. I wish I could blame all of it on Amanda, which I can't because I have other friends in practically the same situation I'm in who did way better than I did, but I can use her as an excuse. At Andy's school I didn't do much. I preferred to volunteer with my wallet this year instead of my time. Any time they asked for parents to donate anything or bring something in, I was your woman. Any time they asked for parents to come to the school and do something, I ignored the request like it never came.


Part of the reason I didn't do stuff at the elementary school was because people told me that the school really didn't want siblings around. Nobody ever told me that directly, that I couldn't bring the girls with me, but a lot of things that came home from school were just for a student and parent. I had heard from other parents who were there for Kindergarten last year that siblings weren't that welcome, so I stuck to it. If siblings weren't welcome neither was I. It wasn't until last weekend, you know, four days before school ended, that one of the moms who is pretty active on the PTA told me that our elementary school isn't like that, maybe others in the district are, and she brought her youngest up to the school all the time when she was little. I'm sure she did, but I'm still not convinced that the teachers weren't snickering behind her back about the fact that she always had that kid with her.


So, I didn't do that well with attendance of events at Andy's school. Whenever he needed something, I made sure he had it. He was always prepared for anything that was happening at school. I didn't forget things. I just wasn't there went they had their parties or did anything where they invited the parents. I finally figured out this week that most of the things where they invite parents are right after drop-off, usually over by 8:30 or 9:00, so if I had just gotten up earlier I could have made some of those things. Note for next year, I'll try a little harder.


I did a little better at Sarah's school because I was the volunteer coordinator. So you can't really slack off in that job. I was totally on top of all the volunteer needs for the school, just missed a few things for her personally. I forgot to mark down when she was student of the week and didn't bring in her poster until the last day. Oops. The communication from the school changed significantly from last year, and that threw me off. Last year they sent home papers in abundance about everything going on at school. Too much. This year they barely sent anything home and sent all communication by email. That was good, but too easy to ignore. So, I forgot a couple of days that they didn't have to wear uniforms, and missed the first day of crazy week completely. Oh well, luckily she's little and probably won't remember.


So, I have some improving to do, but it shouldn't be too hard. I'm smart, and my pregnancy and just-had-a-baby brain is starting to coming back to me, so I should be much better by this August. That is, if I survive the summer. I have the kids signed up for lots of activities, not all of them at the same time so that they don't spend too much time together, and we'll be traveling a lot. Just the kids and me though, internet robbers, Charlie is staying home to work while I go on crazy adventures with the kids. Two weeks in Michigan with my parents and then a family reunion on my Mom's side in Colorado.

By the time August rolls around I will be ready for school to start. Hopefully the kids will too. Then we can happily get back into our school routine. For now, we'll just try to enjoy some time off and not kill each other.