Meet the Teacher . . . No, Meet this Teacher

Today was Kanin's "Meet the Teacher/Supply Drop Off" night for 1st grade.  These past few weeks I have experienced a lot of anxiety about Kanin going into 1st grade.  Since he had half-day kindergarten last year, this will be the first year that he is away from me all day.  Even though there are times that I feel like I am going to pull my hair out over things he does and says, the thought of going all day, every day and not seeing him just breaks my heart.

My anxiety not only stems from the fact that he is going to be away but I also have it because I feel like I am losing control of him.  Up until now, I have said what he can and cannot do, what he can and cannot eat, I have known where he is and what he is doing at all times.  I, along with Scott and other designated people, have been fully in charge of discipline and correction and now there will be somebody, lots of somebodies, who will have more control and knowledge over what is going on with him on a day-to-day basis than I will and I hate it.  Yes, I know that I might sound like a bit of a control-freak and when it comes to my kids, I am, but if you haven't been here before, you just wait.  It stinks.

On top of the normal "I don't want my baby to go to school" drama that has been going on, I have had somewhat of a drama with his new teacher, as well.  I won't bore you with all of the details but, basically, I received a letter stating that his lunch time is a 20 minute lunch from 11:20-11:40 and that there will be no am or pm snacks.  This immediately threw up a red flag in my mind and I called the principal that day (the teacher wasn't available).  I expressed my concern that since school got out at 3:20 that that was an awfully long time to go with nothing in his belly especially since we wouldn't get home until at least 3:45.  School starts at 8:20 so he would be eating a 20 minute lunch and that would be the only thing he would eat in a 8 hour day--not healthy, not smart, not good.  I expressed my concerns about his behavior, sluggishness, blood sugar level.  The principal was open to my concern and asked me to send an email to the teacher expressing them, as well, and stated that she was sure we could work something out. 

Let's just say that the teacher was NOT as receptive as the principal and this resulted in a bit of tit-for-tat emails so on the way to meet her tonight, I had quite a bit of anxiety.  I kept reminding myself of all the great advice I had gotten over the last couple of days but I was still preparing for this battle face-to-face.  Well, to my surprise, we go to the school and Kanin was moved to a new classroom!  I cannot tell you how relieved I felt when I realized that he was not going to be in such an overly rigid, structured class where the teacher was really not open or willing to communicate with the parents.

Here's how we figured out what room he was in . . .(since our original letter had our original teacher's name and the principal had just made the decision and had not contacted us yet.  She actually called us while we were in our new classroom).

We were all a little confused walking into the room because we hadn't talked to our principal yet.  We unloaded our school supplies and walked around a bit. 

Here is our new teacher, Mrs. Vice.  When I explained my concerns with her, she was very open and willing to work with Kanin and I to make sure that he has the best experience possible.  She assured me that she had no problem slipping him some animal crackers or apple if he needed it and if we needed to be a little bit me structured then he could go down to the nurse's clinic.  Such relief!

To make this day even better, we found out that one of Kanin's BFFs, Blake, is in Mrs. Vice's room, too.  He was so worried after

kindergarten that he would not see Blake or Hayden (other BFF) when he got into 1st grade.  I think Blake's mom and I were just as excited as the boys.

How cute are they?  Blake recently got his hair cut and wanted to have spikey hair like Kanin and Hayden.  LOL 

I'm sure that throughout the kids' school careers that there will be other issues that pop in.  I am so thankful to everyone that told me to hold my ground and be Kanin's advocate.  To some this may have seemed like such a small battle to fight but as I told teacher #1 I know my child and I am so thankful that I do!  He is a sweet, quirky, soft-hearted, hard-headed, athletic, obnoxious (at times-lol)all-boy boy and I am so proud of him!