Open House

Tonight was Open House at the boys' school, and I had signed up for a 15 minute stint selling Luminaria at the 1st grade service learning project table, so we got there early.  Chaos doesn't even begin to describe the hallway before the doors opened, allowing access to the classrooms.  It was a hot, sardine-like, madhouse.  B kept wanting to sit down under the table, and I kept telling him to stand up and "look pretty" so people would want to come buy a Luminaria from the cute kid with the gap in his top teeth.

After my 15 minutes were up, we went to his classroom first because I figured it would be most time consuming.  I talked to his teacher for several minutes, offering my idea book for Relay for Life fundraisers, and then B led me to his seat and pulled it out for me to sit down.  As we went through his projects, he had to explain every single piece of paper to me.  I couldn't hold them, oh no!  B had to hold them and point the items out to me on the individual pages.  Luckily, his dad & stepmom showed up shortly after that, and I let him start showing them the things I'd already seen while I looked through the rest.

I introduced them to the other B's parents, and we talked about getting together next week during spring break.  Both boys are super excited to be in the same class AND on the same team.  And honestly, I'm excited for them.  I know B's teacher adores him, even if he is a little distracting, and I'm so grateful every single day that she has the patience to put up with him.

After I kissed B good-bye, N and I headed upstairs to the 5th grade hallway.  We went into his class, where we grabbed his "to do" list and took off to fulfill the items on the list.  Fifth graders/their parents were instructed to bring iPads or iPods to the classrooms tonight because the big thing this year?  It's QR codes.  They had codes on several pieces, linking us to stories, blogs, and pictures.  As we made our trip down the hall, we stopped in his Math teacher's class.  We've spoken on the phone and via email, but have never met in person.  When I do parent/teacher conferences, I only meet with his homeroom teacher, so it was nice to meet the others, too.  His Math teacher told me how proud she was of him for working hard and having a good attitude, even when frustrated.  It's something I know he's been working on at school.

Then we went to see his Science/Social Studies teacher...and, y'all?  I had a super huge "proud" moment.  I introduced myself, and she said, "I have to tell you, I am SO impressed with his journal entries for the Oregon Trail project. I read them out loud to my husband and said, 'Listen to this journal entry...from one of my FIFTH GRADERS!'"  I beamed with pride, caught N's eye, and said, "Um...yeah, his mom's a little wordy and really big on writing and grammar."  She said she rarely got to see the writing aspect of their lives since she doesn't teach Language Arts, but she really enjoyed reading his entries.

His class just finished an Oregon Trail unit.  He and his family made it...his best friend's family?  Not so lucky.  Every single one of his teachers had great things to say about him, in front of him, and it meant a lot to him...and to me, too.  We headed to look at the artwork and pictures on our way out, and he had a couple of things on display.

When we got in the car, he mentioned that he needed a couple of things from the store, and since we needed "real" milk since B's not home, we stopped at Market Street to grab a few items.  On the way home, we were talking about friends, because I had seen a message he'd sent to a friend saying, "If you don't answer, I'm going to punch you in the face."  I was griping at him because I told him that wasn't how you kept friends...by being a jerk.  And his response?  It was the best thing ever...

"Mom, friends now are nothing like friends were in the 90s."  Oh, wow.  I laughed for at least a minute, wiping away tears, before exclaiming, "And that's such a shame...but you're right."  He went on to gripe like an old man about how people from the 90s said weird things ('cause that NEVER happens now) and wore weird clothes (Again...NEVER happens now) and wore their clothes backwards because that was the dumbest thing ever.

Hold the phone.  Did he seriously just call Kris Kross stupid?  They'll make you jump, jump, and when they miss the bus, they swear they're never ever ever gonna do it again.  How can this be a bad thing...although, have you ever tried to wear your jeans backwards?  I don't recommend it.

As we sat down to eat dinner, I brought up a subject I tend to bring up from time to time.  I asked N if he was happy here, if he felt like this is where we belonged.  I told him I really love where we are: I love his school, and being involved.  I love that he's playing sports.  I love that he and B have both made some great friends.  I told him I feel like here, more than anywhere else, we "fit."  We fit better here than we've ever fit anywhere else...even Forney.  He looked at me, and I quickly added, "I loved our friends in Forney, but you know it was never where I wanted to live..." and do you know what that precious boy said?

"You're right mom.  This place, this school, it really does feel like home.  I think it's a good fit for us, too."

My heart almost burst out of my chest, y'all, and I almost cried...

And three hours later, he came in to tell me he'd thrown up all over the bathroom.

Motherhood: It's awesome.

Aubs