Saturday, July 23, 2005
School Daze, New Friends, and Our First Monsoon
Lots to report from last night!
We went to my stepson's brand new school for "Meet the Teachers" night and a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The school is beautiful, and we were so excited to be part of this momentous occasion. It was a very small-town, warm, community, apple-pie type feeling, and we loved it. I felt like I was in an episode of Gilmore Girls (don't tell anyone I like that show). Afer the ceremony, we set off to find his teacher. We checked all the lists for 3rd grade classrooms, and he wasn't on any of them. Since it's a brand new school, I figured we could cut them some slack. After all, the building was still under construction just a couple of days ago. They probably just forgot to assign him a classroom...I was sure others would have the same problem.
We went over to the office and talked to the principal, who had personally confirmed his enrollment via email just a few weeks ago. I explained the situation, and we all looked on the district map to make sure our new house was within the school boundaries. Our street marks the division between one elementary school and the other, so it's a bit confusing. I was upset that we were referring to the district map since I had made such efforts to make sure we enrolled at the right school (knowing we were on the border), confirming with several different people on several different occasions. I explained to the principal that the house isn't quite ready, yet, and that we're temporarily living in Chandler. She asked me two questions that really ticked me off. 1) (with furrowed brow) "You mean you're going to drive him all the way out here every day?" 2) "Are you sure your house is on that street, because there's a lot of construction going on out here?" HA! Yeah, lady...I'm gonna drive my kid out here every day so that he doesn't have to transfer schools in the middle of the year. I know that sounds like a big ol' pain in the ass–and it is–but sometimes you have to make sacrifices for your kids. I thought you might understand that, being a principal and all. And, yes, I do know where my house is. Thank you for having so much confidence in my intelligence level. I certainly hope you have higher standards for the children you are educating. So she then tells me that she can't believe she would email me the incorrect information. Me neither. She then tells me that they have no record whatsoever of my stepson and that I should head over to the other elementary school to see if he's on a class list there. GREAT! THANKS! Now, I'm still going to give Mrs. Principal a chance. I'm not completely closed minded to the fact that she's probably a great person and all that. I know she's stressed. I can't even imagine the pressure on her right now. We'll see how things go in the future.
So we go over to the other school. Do you think he's on a list? Nope. Checked in the office. No record whatsoever. Asked if they have a master district list. Nope. K. The lady tells me to go back to the other school and ask the principal again. I then began educating my child on the finer words in the English language while simultaneously consoling him because he now feels like he doesn't belong anywhere.
I MARCH back into the first school office and tell Mrs. Principal that even though I mailed in all of my child's records, immunizations, and information to the school months ago, had his records sent officially from his previous school, spoke on the phone and via email with both herself and the principal at the other school to confirm the correct school and that my stepson was, indeed, enrolled, they have no record of him whatsoever in their system. Then I said "Since you confirmed that he is enrolled at this school, in writing, this is the school he is going to. Which class is he in?"
She said, "We'll put him in Mr. Teacher's class, room 11. Please stop by the office on Monday morning to make sure we have your son's information." THANK YOU!
So we go meet Mr. Teacher, and he seems nice. Has a lot of books in his classroom, which Little B immediately began reading. He told us his philosophies and about the grading system, and we were comforted. Our son has a place and is now looking forward to attending his first day of 3rd grade on Monday.
After that, we went to dinner at our first friends' (in AZ) house. I met Mrs. D online on a community Web site, and we've been emailing ever since. We both own our own pet sitting companies, and, technically, we're each other's competition, but we've chosen to take a more mature route and help each other out. We went to a professional pet sitters luncheon together the other day and found we had a lot in common. She was so nice to invite our family to her home for dinner. Boy, do we have a lot in common. She, Mr. D and Little D were great! Not to mention their three dogs and two cats. We clicked on just about every level, and Mr. D is a damn good cook. It's crazy, but Mrs. D and I are a lot alike, as are my husband and Mr. D. Our "married" interactions are also almost identical. It's just too good to be true. Friends! We made friends!
After dinner, the four of us are outside sharing a bottle of wine while the kids play inside. It's a hot (duh) evening, but then a slight breeze started blowing, which we all agreed was very refreshing. Then, suddenly–and I mean in about two seconds–our hair was blowing straight up in the air, whipping around, and the patio furniture was rattling. We look up, and there is a huge wall of dust. Let me tell you, it was an amazing site. "Here it is," Mr. D said, grabbing his wine. "Get inside. Shut the dog door," said Mrs. D, grabbing hers. We all ran inside. My husband and I looked out the window and called our son over to witness our first monsoon! I kept saying "Oh my god. Oh my god." What we saw was incredible. The only shame is that it was dark out and we couldn't totally see as well as we would have liked. The back wall of the D's backyard was about thirty feet from the sliding glass door we were peering through, and it was obscured from view by dust in seconds. Their whole backyard was filled with dust. Then the swing set was enveloped. That was only about ten feet away from us. It was nuts! Just thirty seconds ago we were relaxing on the patio. Then Mrs. D says to Mr. D, "Oh SHIT, honey. Our car windows are open." Uh-oh. They run outside. That gave me time to realize that my teeth were gritty, just like at the beach, and my wine had dust in it. The Ds come back a couple of minutes later completely drenched. So now it's pouring! We're all laughing, and they're telling us how they couldn't believe their first monsoon either. They only moved here last August, so they're new to all this, too. After about half an hour, everything had died down. We go back outside and everything looks normal, but with a layer of dust. Mr. D wiped down the patio furniture while Mrs. D changed the dogs' water bowl, which was now a big mud pie. Then we sat outside and finished our wine while watching an intense lightening storm.
Sorry...it all happened so fast I didn't have time to get pictures, plus it was dark and wouldn't have made good photos anyway. I'll try for next time. But what an experience! New great friends and our first monsoon! A night we will never forget...
We went to my stepson's brand new school for "Meet the Teachers" night and a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The school is beautiful, and we were so excited to be part of this momentous occasion. It was a very small-town, warm, community, apple-pie type feeling, and we loved it. I felt like I was in an episode of Gilmore Girls (don't tell anyone I like that show). Afer the ceremony, we set off to find his teacher. We checked all the lists for 3rd grade classrooms, and he wasn't on any of them. Since it's a brand new school, I figured we could cut them some slack. After all, the building was still under construction just a couple of days ago. They probably just forgot to assign him a classroom...I was sure others would have the same problem.
We went over to the office and talked to the principal, who had personally confirmed his enrollment via email just a few weeks ago. I explained the situation, and we all looked on the district map to make sure our new house was within the school boundaries. Our street marks the division between one elementary school and the other, so it's a bit confusing. I was upset that we were referring to the district map since I had made such efforts to make sure we enrolled at the right school (knowing we were on the border), confirming with several different people on several different occasions. I explained to the principal that the house isn't quite ready, yet, and that we're temporarily living in Chandler. She asked me two questions that really ticked me off. 1) (with furrowed brow) "You mean you're going to drive him all the way out here every day?" 2) "Are you sure your house is on that street, because there's a lot of construction going on out here?" HA! Yeah, lady...I'm gonna drive my kid out here every day so that he doesn't have to transfer schools in the middle of the year. I know that sounds like a big ol' pain in the ass–and it is–but sometimes you have to make sacrifices for your kids. I thought you might understand that, being a principal and all. And, yes, I do know where my house is. Thank you for having so much confidence in my intelligence level. I certainly hope you have higher standards for the children you are educating. So she then tells me that she can't believe she would email me the incorrect information. Me neither. She then tells me that they have no record whatsoever of my stepson and that I should head over to the other elementary school to see if he's on a class list there. GREAT! THANKS! Now, I'm still going to give Mrs. Principal a chance. I'm not completely closed minded to the fact that she's probably a great person and all that. I know she's stressed. I can't even imagine the pressure on her right now. We'll see how things go in the future.
So we go over to the other school. Do you think he's on a list? Nope. Checked in the office. No record whatsoever. Asked if they have a master district list. Nope. K. The lady tells me to go back to the other school and ask the principal again. I then began educating my child on the finer words in the English language while simultaneously consoling him because he now feels like he doesn't belong anywhere.
I MARCH back into the first school office and tell Mrs. Principal that even though I mailed in all of my child's records, immunizations, and information to the school months ago, had his records sent officially from his previous school, spoke on the phone and via email with both herself and the principal at the other school to confirm the correct school and that my stepson was, indeed, enrolled, they have no record of him whatsoever in their system. Then I said "Since you confirmed that he is enrolled at this school, in writing, this is the school he is going to. Which class is he in?"
She said, "We'll put him in Mr. Teacher's class, room 11. Please stop by the office on Monday morning to make sure we have your son's information." THANK YOU!
So we go meet Mr. Teacher, and he seems nice. Has a lot of books in his classroom, which Little B immediately began reading. He told us his philosophies and about the grading system, and we were comforted. Our son has a place and is now looking forward to attending his first day of 3rd grade on Monday.
After that, we went to dinner at our first friends' (in AZ) house. I met Mrs. D online on a community Web site, and we've been emailing ever since. We both own our own pet sitting companies, and, technically, we're each other's competition, but we've chosen to take a more mature route and help each other out. We went to a professional pet sitters luncheon together the other day and found we had a lot in common. She was so nice to invite our family to her home for dinner. Boy, do we have a lot in common. She, Mr. D and Little D were great! Not to mention their three dogs and two cats. We clicked on just about every level, and Mr. D is a damn good cook. It's crazy, but Mrs. D and I are a lot alike, as are my husband and Mr. D. Our "married" interactions are also almost identical. It's just too good to be true. Friends! We made friends!
After dinner, the four of us are outside sharing a bottle of wine while the kids play inside. It's a hot (duh) evening, but then a slight breeze started blowing, which we all agreed was very refreshing. Then, suddenly–and I mean in about two seconds–our hair was blowing straight up in the air, whipping around, and the patio furniture was rattling. We look up, and there is a huge wall of dust. Let me tell you, it was an amazing site. "Here it is," Mr. D said, grabbing his wine. "Get inside. Shut the dog door," said Mrs. D, grabbing hers. We all ran inside. My husband and I looked out the window and called our son over to witness our first monsoon! I kept saying "Oh my god. Oh my god." What we saw was incredible. The only shame is that it was dark out and we couldn't totally see as well as we would have liked. The back wall of the D's backyard was about thirty feet from the sliding glass door we were peering through, and it was obscured from view by dust in seconds. Their whole backyard was filled with dust. Then the swing set was enveloped. That was only about ten feet away from us. It was nuts! Just thirty seconds ago we were relaxing on the patio. Then Mrs. D says to Mr. D, "Oh SHIT, honey. Our car windows are open." Uh-oh. They run outside. That gave me time to realize that my teeth were gritty, just like at the beach, and my wine had dust in it. The Ds come back a couple of minutes later completely drenched. So now it's pouring! We're all laughing, and they're telling us how they couldn't believe their first monsoon either. They only moved here last August, so they're new to all this, too. After about half an hour, everything had died down. We go back outside and everything looks normal, but with a layer of dust. Mr. D wiped down the patio furniture while Mrs. D changed the dogs' water bowl, which was now a big mud pie. Then we sat outside and finished our wine while watching an intense lightening storm.
Sorry...it all happened so fast I didn't have time to get pictures, plus it was dark and wouldn't have made good photos anyway. I'll try for next time. But what an experience! New great friends and our first monsoon! A night we will never forget...