Samantha's first blog

pamelamyers | September 29, 2017

In Samantha’s school, the second graders do “star of the week.” Sam was super excited when she got home last Friday because she found out she was the very first star! I remember in Kindergarten they did star of the week and Samantha was almost the last kid. It was so hard for her to wait while everyone else got to have their turn. Not this year!

She was given a poster to complete and bring in on Monday. We had a lot going on that weekend prior because of her birthday, and she didn’t have a heck of a lot of time to work on it, so I helped her with some of the coloring. She filled in all the questions about herself. They may be a little hard to read, but no surprises here: her favorite color is orange, her favorite animal is a cat, her favorite food is french fries, her favorite book is No, No Kitten!, her favorite sport is none, her favorite thing to do in school is lunch, and her favorite thing to do at home is play with dolls.  My favorite section of the poster is where the kids are supposed to list three “super-cool facts” about themselves. Sam picked some good ones: I know electronics, I can build a robot, and I have 2 cats.

Her teacher asked the parents to write something about their child in the star binder. This is what I wrote:

All week Sam was allowed to bring in a show and tell item. She loved that. She mostly brought in toys (Boo Boo and Baby Ann were two that she just had to bring) but she also brought one of her electronics projects. Mark helped her practice the night before to make sure she remembered how to show the electronics project, and how to fix it if the wires came out. She told us the kids loved it!

The best part of the week though, was that she got to bring a “star guest.” On back to school night her teacher explained this to us and said that in the past parents have either talked about their jobs, read a book, and one time a student brought an older sibling or cousin or something who played college football to talk about what that was like. Sam wasn’t sure who she wanted to bring. I told her that I thought that Daddy would love to go to school with her because he was thinking they could demonstrate together how they built, programmed, and work one of the mBot robots. I told her that I would be happy to go in with her because she knows that I love to go to school, but I probably wouldn’t be very exciting, all I would likely do is read a book to her class. Sam loved the idea of Mark coming in and then sort of dismissed the idea of my going by saying, “Yeah, I mean, what are YOU going to do? Talk about your job or something?” (as she had a blech look on her face). The kids LOVED it! Mark told me the kids were freaking out they were so excited. There were a million questions, and they all were completely entranced. Sam worked the computer perfectly. Mark had a blast being in the classroom teaching again. He actually emailed Sam’s teacher and offered to come in again to do a lesson on Scratch programming and robotics sometime. Mrs. Smith thought it was a great idea and said she’d definitely be in touch. I really hope she does set it up. Not only did the kids love it, but it’s an important STEM lesson that they don’t get a lot of at this grade level. And Mark loved it, which is a treat for him. We’ll see…there may be more robots in this class’s future!

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pamelamyers | September 22, 2017

I volunteered today for my first lunch helper gig at Scenic. I figured it would be a good day since it was the day before her birthday and it’s like an extra treat to see her mom. I was also curious to see how things are at her new school. Well, to preface things, at her old school, the helpers did a lot. We unpacked their lunch bags from the lunch cart and put them on their designated tables, helped the kids throw away trash (they don’t like the kids walking around a lot), took their lunch trays and put them on the appropriate counter so they could be washed, and then when the kids were done, wiped down the tables. All that besides the normal stuff like helping kids open things, and trying to keep them in place to eat. It was all pretty civilized. Well, as civilized as a bunch of first graders can be.

When I got to the cafeteria, the staff welcomed me and asked if I’d been there before, when I said no, I had only volunteered at the SLC, they told me that it’s very different, “the kids do everything.” Wow. What an experience! The kids definitely do everything, but that means they are constantly up and moving around throwing trash away, going to the snack line, talking…It was insanely loud and chaotic. I helped a couple kids get paper towels when the spilled their drinks, but other than that, I spent most of my time answering questions about whether they could go get a snack or go to the bathroom. The kids are left with wet paper towels on each table and they are expected to wipe the tables when lunch is over. They even have styrofoam trays so there is nothing to do there.

I am glad I went though. Sam was so happy to see me, and apparently so were a lot of her first grade friends. They were all waving hello and I even got a hug from Aidan, the little boy who liked Sam last year. 😉 Sam loves lunch at Scenic because they have better snacks. She already bought a chocolate chip cookie and a Dixie Cup. It’s funny, Sam thought Aidan was annoying last year and when I told her he hugged me and said, “He really liked you last year,” Sam said, “Hmmmm….I dunno, maybe someday I will go out with him.” OMG! Please. I can’t even. But seriously, if I wind up this kid’s mother in law someday, what a story that will be!

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pamelamyers | September 14, 2017

Today was picture day at school and I decided since Sam’s class was getting taken at what would be my lunchtime, that I would sign up to be one of the volunteers. Sam’s class was being taken right after lunch and recess and my first thought was one of dread over what state her hair and clothes would be in. I am so glad that I went to school. Every kid in her class came in with the reddest of faces and hair dripping with sweat. These are going to be some lovely photos….But the biggest reason I am glad I went is that while Sam was waiting in line for her turn, her nose started bleeding! Poor Sam. I was talking to her teacher, and I heard Sam yell my name. I quickly ran and got tissues but then it did take a while for the bleeding to stop. Thankfully, I was there to help her, and she didn’t get blood all over her clothes. Also, since it took so long for her turn (she was the last kid), her face wasn’t red from the heat anymore.

Here she is, ready to go, pre-bloody nose and after. The photographer let me preview her picture and I think it’s adorable. I can’t wait to get the photos.

Even though I did get to talk to Sam’s teacher, we officially met her that night at back to school night, and got to see her classroom. After all the anxiety about school opening, I am happy to report that her teacher, Mrs. Smith, seems absolutely great! She has been a teacher for a long time, and she’s pretty old school, so I don’t think we’re going to be getting email updates and whatnot, but she seems fantastic and Sam adores her! I mean, really loves her. And that’s what it’s about, right? If Sam didn’t like her, that would be a bigger issue to overcome. My neurotic need for email communication, updates, photos, etc. is my problem, not Sam’s. I think I have gotten spoiled by some of her other teachers. But, as I say, the bigger picture is what is important.

Here’s a quick pic of her classroom. Sam is thrilled that she has her own desk now and no more group tables! She has already made fast friends with the girls in her group, Giselle and Alaina. Sam loves school, loves her teacher, and I have every confidence that this year will be great!

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pamelamyers | September 9, 2017

It really hard to believe that the summer is over, but it is. Sam started school Tuesday. Second grade! The time has flown by. We’ve been in a flurry getting ready for school to start, especially since Sam is in a new school this year. There will be so much to get used to, not only for Sam, but for us. There have been some slight hitches in the system. We finally found out who her teacher is, not that the name means anything to me, and I was awaiting some word from her via email or on her school website so I could get a feel for who she is. Well, a week went by with NOTHING. Oh man, I am so OCD that having a teacher who does not communicate well is not good.

Then, there was a huge mixup about what bus she was supposed to be on. I won’t get into the boring details, but we eventually got that worked out. Sort of. Mark and I took her to the bus the first day, and the bus never came! We wound up frantically driving her to school! Her bus comes very late compared to last year (which has caused other issues about how the heck we are getting her to the bus since both Mark and I are supposed to be working), so by the time we realized it either wasn’t coming or it was coming super late, we just drove her. But, of course, because that was not the plan, Sam was a bit flustered and I felt really bad for her. The bus eventually did show up but we only know this because we passed it near our bus stop when Mark and I were almost back home. Ugh.

Sam was a bit flustered this first week because she is having trouble finding her classroom on her own, but she does love the school. They have a huge playground which she loves, her friend, Lydia, from first grade is in her class, and she gets to see all of her friends at lunch and on the playground since the entire second grade does that together. Well, at least the ones that go to her school. She does miss other friends who go to the other elementary school. Overall though, she has adjusted incredibly well. She hasn’t had any freak outs like last year, and she has settled in.

Here are some pictures from her first day. I can’t believe how big she is now! She is getting so tall.

Waiting for her bus!

And walking into school when we dropped her in the car line. Poor Sam! At least she had a great first day!

Eventually that first week, we managed to nab a photo of her getting on the bus. It was hard, she just zooms on there now with barely a goodbye! Mark takes her most days now since I need to get to work, and I do miss waiting for the bus with her, but I still have Mondays and Fridays. I made her stop and look at me!

One last photo because she worked so hard I wanted to show it off. She needs a smock for art class this year. I bought her an oversized adult t-shirt since they make the best smocks and I was supposed to put her name on it. I wanted it to be special, so I bought some fabric paint and planned to write her name in paint. I had just finished doing so when Sam came in and saw it. Of course, she wanted to embellish it more. She added the butterfly, the flower, the cat, her doll, Baby Ann, and the “I love cats” statement. She is so happy with her smock. She can’t wait to wear it!

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pamelamyers | June 21, 2017

At the SLC, the school’s tagline or catch phrase was “Happy to be at the SLC!” Sam keeps wondering if her new school, Scenic Hills, will have one. I honestly have no idea. If they do, I doubt it’s as catchy. Sam keeps trying to figure one out. I am not sure if she is trying to determine what it could be, or if she’s trying to make one up on her own, but she keeps coming back to, “At Scenic Hills, No One Needs Pills!” I certainly hope not. And I seriously doubt that’s the phrase. Can’t tell her that though.  Oh boy.

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