Hello, My Name Is Michelle, And I'm A Bad Parent Of A School Aged Child
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This is my first year really in school. Mister Man is in kindergarten, and for the first year we have more requirements than signing up at the preschool and getting him a backpack.
This year, we have several things required before school starts:
1) He has to have an eye exam. Phew, we did this a couple weeks ago. Except I forgot to take the form with me. And I haven't called them yet. And school starts Monday. What's the likelihood they can fill out the form tomorrow and then fax it to the school? Yeah... I didn't think so.
2) He needs to have a dental exam. I made the appointment for this, so this one is fortunately all on my husband. I dropped the form off with the dentist ahead of time. My husband forgot to take the completed one with him. And has yet to pick it up. Fingers crossed he has time tomorrow.
3) I need to actually sign him up for school. I dithered and dithered about where to go. The half day public school kindergarten that has the convenient bus, or the full day private school option that has differentiated education. I finally decided on the private school in the middle of July. Fortunately, there were still spaces left.
4) I have to buy school uniform for Mister Man. This should be easy, right? Navy pants and navy shorts - just not cargo. Red and white polo shirts with no logos. A pair of gym shoes (not until first grade do they have to have the brown or black shoes). Oops. I waited too long. There are apparently few manufacturers that make polos without logos on them. And fewer still that haven't sold out by the end of the third week of August. Navy pants? That's not so much the problem. But poor Mister Man is going to have to wear pants all year even when the temperatures are into the 90s. Oops. Sorry, Kiddo.
5) And there's the dreaded school supply list. Seriously, I need to save what was on the list this year and just start buying the stuff in early July last year. Have you tried looking for a pack of Crayola broad tip classic color markers lately? Or an 8 pack of non-jumbo Crayola crayons? I finally gave up and bought RoseArt markers and a 24 pack of crayons. I emailed the teacher with my dilemma. She's agreed that I can just pick out the eight colors of crayons and send them in a baggie, but she's insisting that the markers need to be Crayola. I've literally been to eight stores, and they are quite simply sold out right now. Apparently, I know what I'll be doing this weekend.
Oh, and don't get me started on trying to find a lunchbox. In fact, I think that might be its own post. One of my friends is now making fun of me in my search for the lunchbox. And I have four more days now, so time is really running out.
The sad thing is that I have a feeling that even with a year of this under my belt and with the experience of this summer, next year I'll be in the same boat. I'm just not good at getting ready for the new school year. I'm not ready for it to start myself!
22 comments:
I could send you some markers, but probably not in time. None of the schools here request them but they go on sale anyway, which is good for me and my yearly marker stash refill. The thing our stores always, always run out of is construction paper, especially the manilla flavor.
Yes. That's what makes you a bad parent.
But then that makes me quite criminal in comparison.
I feel your pain. Over the past 3 weeks I have been doing all the dental(don't get me started), vision, and rabies shots. I have had uniform issues that will not be remedied in time and my school supplies have been a patchwork of what I am able to find. BTW, I think I have some extra crayola markers. Do you by chance have 4 black dry erase markers? The fat ones? We can trade and have lunch.
See, you and I would have a big problem here. I'm sooooo anal about time that we got Nicoles uniforms and all her school supplies except a backpack like the almost a month ago. It was the weekend that Harry Potter 6 came out - so around the end of July I guess. She started MOnday and their uniforms have to be from a specific manufacturer. Good luck finding everything!
If I had to find uniforms, I would be in big trouble. I have a hard enough time finding the "right" sneakers for the boys. I'm so behind on getting school supplies. Maybe today I'll get some. I'm not ready for school either. Michelle, you could never be a bad mommy :)
I feel so fortunate that my school buys supplies and just sends us the bill. That way I can avoid the scavenger hunt.
Just did the school year scramble....I thought I was going to have to give blood too, all the forms had my head spinning
I had to laugh. I always forget the forms that have to be filled out at the doctors. None of these make you a bad mom- just a normal one! Welcome to the club!
I hate buying school supplies! It's my least favorite about my son going back to shcool! good luck!
Ugh I cant imagine. I always felt that those lists were so superfluous. I can understand notebooks and stuff but do you really need 2 red notebooks, 1 green, 24 thumbtacks, 19 boxes of tissues, ect?!
Only 12 more years of prepping him for school and filling out a zillion forms and buying all the supplies... but no worries, soon enough you'll be doing double duty when Little Miss joins her brother in the great race to school!
I'm super happy to have a break this year from the school chaos. I did my 15 yrs of it with my two, soon, I'll be doing it again.
All of the enrollment forms every year just amaze me and make me groan. Good luck! Hope his first day is a great one!!!
Yeah, they certainly don't make it easy, huh? JAM's school sends out the next year's school supply at the end of the year before-- which was nice because the local Target looked like a war zone tonight in the school supplies section!
Good luck getting it all done!
If you find the Crayola's, buy two or three so you're covered for a while, heehee.
OK, that is A LOT of work for kindergarten! Holy crap!
My goodness it sounds like a lot of work and so specific too.
How frustrating! Even in public schools here, the parents are now required to provide all school supplies, even to send in 2 reams of paper with each child. But that's because it's California and we're in an economic disaster here.
I can see this will be me in a few more years...{{hugs}} What, does this school have stock in Crayola?
It actually gets easier each year. Really... by the time they are in middle school, you'll be a seasoned school prep pro.
evitajford - Aww, you're so sweet! I actually did snag the VERY last package at the eleventh store I tried. Fortunately, construction paper wasn't on our list!
A Musing Mom - Oooo, I like your POV :)
Weaselmomma - Ummm yep. We're praying the vision exam form gets to the school before Wednesday at 8:45am, or Mister Man won't be in school. Little Miss had her shots on Friday, and my husband forgot to pick up the dental forms until Friday afternoon. For the 4 black dry erase markers, ummm, dear my husband is a school teacher. Of course we have dry erase markers. Lunch, soon!
MaBunny - Well, the packets weren't available to be picked up (that I knew of) until August 3. I went on vacation the morning of August 7 and was working every day that week (including until 10:22pm the night before we left). I started when I got back, but ... I'm saving this year's list for next year! At least our uniforms aren't that specific (for boys)!
Kelly - There are wrong sneakers? Great. Here's hoping your school supplies went smoothly!
Louise - Oh I so adore that idea. Our public school does that (for $16 a year!), but not this school. I'm debating volunteering to set this up for next year at the private school though... if I stick around ;)
MommyOfManyFaces - Hey, that's not a bad idea. We've been bled dry already, why not have a themed blood donation at registration?
Margaret - Oh good, I'm not the only one! I suppose there are forms to join this club, too, huh?
Sugar Boogers & Tantrums - Really? My least favorite part is figuring out the buses. They're ummm not the strong point in our school system.
Roxane - As a non-teacher, I don't know, but I'm sure they must have a system, right? That or it's just payback for all the hell and stress we'll put them through throughout the school year!
Mary - Twelve years? Isn't that sixteen? And yeah, Little Miss follows along next year. Thanks for the good wishes - he loved today!
Dawn - Ummm no. Not easy. I love that you get the school list so early, but we didn't register until later, so ... that wouldn't have helped us too much. I do love that idea though!
Mrs4444 - I totally would have. But when I found them, there was only a single package there.
Swishy - No kidding. And it only gets worse, right? Not that you'd know, I suppose!
Unknown Mami - I've heard it's worse sometimes. But it's a momentary thing and all done now! Just you wait for your turn!
Pat - Wow, two reams of paper? That's ummmm extreme. I've heard some nasty things about the schools and budget issues there. Here's hoping there's a solution somewhere!
Steph - Yup, you'll be right there, too! I don't think they're the only ones with stock in Crayola. But I really ought to buy some myself at this point!
Tara - Finally, someone to give me hope. Thanks! And I'm still hoping that by middle school, I can just write the check to the school and magically have them appear....
Wow! I know it's been a while for me and schools, but that's an amazing list!
The uniforms surprised me, though. We never had them when I was in school and my steps only get them in High School here in NZ.
My little grandson Harry starts school soon. I imagine the kerfuffle to come!
betty - Generally, most schools don't have uniforms, but Catholic schools... while definitely more lenient than when I attended as a child, they definitely have uniforms!
Rinkly Rimes - Ah! Kerfuffle! That's one of my favorite words. Your comment was worth it for that alone :)
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