first week of school

First day of school picture:

To sum it up and so you don't have to read any further......it was EMOTIONAL.

School started for the boys this past Tuesday.  It's our 2nd year of starting the day after Labor Day.  I quite like it a lot.  Feels like you have more summertime to play, but I will admit that last week of "waiting" for school to begin was rough.  It started with Jaden coming to us and telling us he didn't want to go to his new school.  There were two nights he couldn't even sleep, that's how upset he was.  It all had to do with his best friend, Kadin.  Kadin was supposed to go to a new school as well, but his parents changed their minds and Jaden was very upset that he wouldn't ever see him again. It was heartbreaking.

Now, let me back up for a second because I'm so behind on my blogging in order to explain how this all came to be.

Jaden had tested last April into the Magnet Program (aka the Gifted and Talented program).  In our school district, out of the 4 elementary schools, it's only housed at one of them, and of course, it's not at our "home school," so we had to make the decision whether or not to move him to the new school.  He went last May for a day and observed the classroom and the teacher.  When he finished that day, he was very excited, but said, "I'd like to go half of the week to my old school and half the week to my new school." Well, we all knew that wouldn't be possible, so we had him sit down and we went over the pros and cons of staying or moving to the new school.  In the end, we decided to move over to the new school. 

That in turn, brought on another layer of complexity as Grant would begin Kindergartgen this year as well.  Do we move him?  Do we split them at two different schools?  We determined that because both schools start and end at the same time, and the only way it could have worked was to put Grant on the bus, then have me drive Jaden to school, wasn't going to work for a couple reasons.  First, two separate schools would have been hard.  Second, putting all 40" inches of Grant onto a bus alone scared the beeguzes out of me.  So, I determined to drive both of them five days a week to the new school.  I, make that Justan's rational thinking, decided we will "cross the bridge" of Grant returning to our "home school" when he enters 2nd grade because elementary school here in Michigan only goes until 4th grade, and Jaden will be in this self-contained Magnet class for the next two years only (3rd and 4th).

First, let me say, I only want the best for my kids, so I was willing to drive them to and from each day.  However, you really don't know what you are getting until you actually do it.  In addition, to us, this "self contained Magnet program" was a crapshoot.  Was it "really" going to be that much better of an education compared to what he would get at his "home school"?  Only time will tell. 

This "new school" if you look on the map, is on the COMPLETELY opposite side of where I live.  It's about 20-25 mins one way, so we are talking at least 45-50 mins roundtrip DAILY, twice a day.  There is only one way to get there.  What I'm saying, is I didn't realize until I completed a full week of driving this past week, is I didn't realize how big of a deal this was and it's been exhausting, worryisome, etc....I didn't realize that I'm really the only one that can get them.  I have no one to help me.  That alone stresses me out.  Justan works at least 40 minutes away.  Sure, I'm sure under very dire circumstances could I call upon my SIL, niece, or neighbor, but they have their own life, their own kids, etc....  Basically, when the bus took them last year, I knew the bus would bring them home each day, and provided me with a 30 minute window after school got out that if I got caught out somewhere, I could mak e it home.  Now, I have to leave 30 minutes before school gets out, so it's almost as if I've lost an hour a day.  It's a lot of pressure on me to realize I'm the only one getting them to and from school.  Ugh.

We'll see how it goes.  

 

Comments

[Erin]

Yes....I have my own life but you and your darling family are part of my life. Call me if you need help...anytime...anyday.

[Bridget =)]

I cannot get over how TALL and LEAN Jaden is!!!!!!!!!! makes my heart hurt to see Grant all grown up too!!! =)