Kindergarten Orientation Night

1st Day of Preschool-Angry Toddler

Last week I attended Kindergarten Orientation Night for our school district.  I was one of the lucky ones in our city to actually know about it.  This event wasn’t widely publicized.  I think this was my first lesson learned when dealing with this school district.

I found out about this informational night from the city’s parks and recreation guide that the city puts out.  There was a tiny little advertisement on one of the pages.  I received the booklet in December.  You would think that I would have received something at my son’s preschool about this event. But no, just because he attends a preschool within the city of the  district and that the actual school district offices are on the same street as the preschool, doesn’t mean a thing.

I almost forgot about the event as I was out of town the weekend before. I made arrangements to go into work late that night.  It specifically said, “No children at the event”, so Angry Husband stayed home to watch Angry Kid.  The event was to be held at 7pm, but it clearly said, “get there on or before 6:45 PM”.  I made sure to get there at around 6:30, just to be safe.

I went inside the City’s Council Chambers, where the event was being held. I saw that there was a small table with informational flyers.  I could find out about after-school childcare, city programs, health and wellness evaluations.  I grabbed the information for the after-school care, since I never know what my work schedule will be.

I then sat down and took my seat in their auditorium seating.  I sat on the end of the row.  I then began the watching and listening. I’m a very good people watcher. It’s amazing what you will see or overhear. Within five minutes of being there, I heard this, “Well my son is gifted.  I hope they have the right programs for him.  My older son was moved to a different school locally because he was also gifted. I want to make sure my younger son gets the proper attention and education for his gifts.” I seriously rolled my eyes.  I was thinking, yes, my son is also gifted.  He has almost beat Lego Star Wars on the X-Box by himself.  He knows how to use our very confusing remote control to turn on the TV.  He knows his store logos.  We can’t pass a Target without him saying, “Mama let’s go to Target and get some more Legos.” I mean how gifted can a 4 or 5 yr old be?

I sat and waited for the presentation to begin. I looked in the crowd for familiar faces. I saw none. Yes, because our preschool did not pass out any flyers or make any announcements about this informational night. Why? Because they didn’t know either. Everyone got settled and I looked around. I looked like I was about 12 years old in this crowd.  All of the couples in the group looked to be in their late 30’s or early 40’s.  I have friends whom had children in their early 20’s.  I can’t imagine the looks that they would get from his crowd.

The speakers then approached the podium and began their speeches. They had an agenda with their topics.  Here is what was on the agenda.

  1. Welcome/Introductions
  2. School Readiness Program
  3. Kindergarten Curriculum
  4. Healthy Children
  5. Growth and Development
  6. Essential Information
  7. Questions and Comments

I was going through my mental checklists as the people were speaking.  I know that Angry Kid is ready for Kindergarten.  He’s been in preschool since he was two. They had some guidelines and checklists in the packet. He’s already knows and is doing all the things on the lists.  At least we are doing something right.

They had a Kindergarten teacher from the district speak about what goes on in the classroom. I learned that Kindergarten is 200 minutes a day.  I also learned that they go at a very fast past, starting in September. Yikes! They also talked about red-shirting or holding back kids.  Our district’s deadline is Dec. 2. You have to be age five by then.  They said that the average age difference/span in the kindergarten classes is 18 months. Yes, 18 months is the age span in the kindergarten classroom.  They actually said that they discourage people from holding their children back with “ber” birthdays, as in September, etc.  I’ve told that to a few of my friends. They are still holding back their kids.

We were given the health guidelines for entrance into the school system.  Angry Kid has received all of his mandated vaccinations, he needs a physical, dental screening (went last month), and a TB test.  All of the medical stuff should be taken care of at his annual examination near his birthday in May. We also heard about their policies and sick children.  One of the school nurses spoke on allergies, confidentiality, and how they handle certain medical situations.  That was very good to hear as Angry Kid sometimes has asthma flare-ups and might need to use his nebulizer at school.

The official “enrollment” information was then discussed.  We have to enroll the kids for the 2010-2011 school year starting March 5, 2010 online. There were several sheets in the packet, explaining this. The school district will not be taking any transfers from any other school districts. If you want your child to attend a non-neighborhood school, you have to fill out paperwork to get on a list, and you won’t know the results until June-ish. We have to also provide two proofs of residency.  Of course, all our bills are online, so I will have to print them out.

After hearing all of the speakers, I walked out.  I really did not have any questions for the speakers.  My mind was at peace, because I knew that our son was on the right track.  He is socially and academically ready for school.  You are probably thinking, why did she chose public or private, was that an option?

We actually live in one of the best public school districts in Orange County.  We have a neighborhood elementary school within walking distance, and the junior high is pretty close also (bike riding distance). I considered sending Angry Kid to private school for a little bit. But really, there are not that many private schools near our home.  I did not want to spend an hour plus of my day, driving my son back and forth to school. Angry Husband and I work full-time, and it’s hard to manage our schedules as it is now.  I also wanted my son to have playmates and school friends within the neighborhood.

So I’m going to start organizing all our paperwork for next month’s online registration.  In April, his “school” is also going to have an information night. I will get to meet and stalk the other kindergarten parents.

I’m not worried about Angry Kid starting kindergarten. He is excited to go in the Fall. He loves learning things. We’ve already told him that he will make some new friends, and have a new teacher.  He actually asks about going to high school, since we drive by the high school all the time.  Give it a few years kid, we are barely getting to elementary school.

Now, are “we” ready as parents.  I’m not talking emotionally ready either. I’m not quite sure I’m ready to deal with the parents of the other kindergarten kids.  Seriously, I saw them whispering in the corner of the room pre-event.  I heard the “oh we know you from soccer, etc.” Yea, Angry Kid wasn’t too keen on the team sports.

I’ve also heard about the drama and theatrics from my friends whom already have elementary school age kids. Ohh the PTA, the fundraisers, and the games.  Welcome to sorority life and college all over again! Someone please smack me if I become “that mom”.  I want to participate in my son’s education but I’m not ready for the mom’s whispering in the halls and the parking lot of the school.

Wordless Wednesday: Love in an Elevator

Love in an Elevator

Welcome to  “Angry Julie Monday’s Wordless Wednesday MckLinky”! If this your first time here, HELLO! I am doing a link-up every Wednesday! Post a picture(s) that you took in the past week and link back to it here.

Another house project begins

Pre-Closet Makeover 2010

This closet may look organized. You see the Elfa System from the Container Store and the Expedit Shelf from Ikea.  But oh no, not so organized.  It actually drives me crazy.  We are getting ready to start our next big project.  We are redecorating Angry Kid’s room.  Angry Husband is tired of the dinosaurs.

Angry Kid has a long closet, which requires three doors to contain it all. The doors do not roll smoothly.  They overlap, making the closet hard to get into.  Angry Husband took the doors off this weekend.  I didn’t even have to ask, because he knew.  I have ideas in my head. I explained them to Angry Husband. He actually agreed with me, for once. We actually AGREED on paint colors.

This closet will be the start of Project Angry Kid’s “Five Year Old Big Kid Room”. Seriously with working, life, sickness, and everything else; it should be done by May. Which is when Angry Kid turns FIVE. Scary, FIVE!

I will take pictures along the way.  I will post them.  I may ask for ideas.  But this closet, it makes me insane.

And Angry Kid, he was quite excited to have full access to his stuff.

P.S. The photo was taken with my iPhone. Because that was the only camera, I could grab fast enough.

P.P.S. I think I’m becoming an expert at closet makeovers, it may be my thing.

Hanging with Harry Connick Jr.

On Friday night at Blissdom, we had a special treat. We had a private performance from Harry Connick Jr. How awesome is that.  I’m quite pushy and made my way to the front of the crowd. It also helped that my friends were also standing in the front. He put on a great performance and also talked to us about the projects he’s involved in. The best part of all though? We got to take a photograph with Harry. Isn’t that awesome?

Meeting Harry Connick Jr. at BlissdomPhoto courtesy of Darcy of Life With My 3 Boybarians.

Featured in photo from left to right: (Jennifer, Sarah, Harry, Me, and JJ).

I was also able to capture some of Harry’s performance on my camera and my little Flip video camera.  I was like the paparazzi trying to get my photos in.  Just imagine fifteen women (bloggers, even worse) trying to get the best photos and videos of the performance. It was quite funny.  At one point, I was literally taking photos over JJ’s head while she squatted down. Be forewarned though, my video is not the greatest.  You can tell many people were also trying to get photos and videos, because there are parts were people’s arms got in the way.

Harry Connick Jr.  02.05.10 4

Harry Connick Jr.  02.05.10 3

Harry Connick Jr.  02.05.10 8

Waiting for Harry Connick Jr.Last photo courtesy from Casey, Moosh in Indy

And last, but not least, my awesome video of Harry Connick Jr.

Happy Valentine’s Day 2010

Happy Valentine's Day

I thought I would use this Holiday, as another reason to post more cute photos of my kid. Cause I’m a blogger, and that’s what I do. This photo was taken in 2006, when Angry Kid was just Angry Baby, and this is Stella, my BFF’s daughter. Aww, the things we do when they are babies.  I used to be so good about having photographs taken of Angry Kid. Now, it’s maybe once or twice a year. Maybe I need to have JJ on contract, or something.  Angry Kid loves JJ, and he actually poses for her, me not so much.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I will am going to post something that Angry Husband wrote me in a card for one Valentine’s Day.  When I met Angry Husband, he was in the Marine Corps.  A few months after we met, he was deployed for six months.  I wrote him hundreds of letters. He wrote me back too. This was before e-mail was used for the military.  I still have all those cards and letters.  But, I found one card from 1995, when an entire paragraph written by Angry Husband.  He was 21 at the time, and I was 19.

Dear Julie,

This holiday is probably the worse because this is the holiday that two people get together and spend the day getting lost in each other’s eyes.  Even though I can’t stare into your eyes, the best that I can do, is to stare into one of your pictures.  All I ask of you is to think of me once or twice during the day.

It hurts so much to be away from you for such a long time, but as you can see it is almost over.  Make me happy and think of me once in awhile.  I want you to know how much I love you, a great deal more than you know.  I have never felt like this about anyone, like I feel about you. Till, I write again. Bye, bye……..

Love

4-Ever,

Mikey

Awww, isn’t that cute? He actually liked me. I swear it’s still in there. He may be angry but he loves the Julie. He even took me to breakfast today, without me bugging him to do so. So after fifteen years together, and eleven years of marriage.

Happy Valentine’s Day Mike!

“Love one another and you will be happy. It’s as simple and difficult as that.”-Michael Leunig.

Favorites of the Week 02.07-02.13.10

I’m going to try and highlight my favorite posts of the week, every Saturday.  I usually put a *star* next to my favorites in my Google Reader.  I re-read them and comment later, I forward them to friends, and I even post them on my Facebook Fan Page.  I know that as a blogger, there is so much to learn from other bloggers.

So here they are, my favorites for the week of 02.07.10-02.13.10:

1. Dadvatar-Busy Dad Blog

Jim’s tale of attending the Blissdom Conference as the only male blogger. He compares it to the popular movie, Avatar.  With whitty content, and great pictures to go along.

2. Heart Shaped Ice Cream Sandwiches-No Biggie

What a delicious and cute Valentine’s Day treat. So simple. Brownies, ice cream, and a cookie cutter.  Yum. It makes me hungry just typing this out.

3. Connecting with your Community of Readers-Tip Junkie

Laurie from Tip Junkie did a presentation at Blissdom about Community and Blogging.  She talks about networking, and creating a community for your blog. This is the first of a series.

4. A Happy Home for Hotel Toiletries-This Mama Makes Stuff

Carrie talks about donating those sample size bottles of lotion and shampoo that you bring home to homeless and women’s shelters. I mean really, do you use theses? I know that I sometimes use them at the Hotel, but when I get home, they never get used and go to waste.

5. Wanna Be J. Crew Ruffle Shirt Tutorial-Her Southern Charm

All you need is a plain t-shirt, an old knit shirt, rotary cutters, a self-healing mat, matching thread, and a sewing machine. You can make this design with these simple instructions, and you can save yourself from spending $50.

The land of white picket fences

Angry Baby @ 16 months.-2006

I live in the land of  white picket fences.  I called it suburbia or Stepfordville. Yes, our houses look exactly alike. For me, this is a good thing.  I can only imagine how our “hood” would look, if my neighbors didn’t have to follow the “rules”. In the past two years, we had new roofs put on, and now we are getting our houses re-painted.  The total cost of the new roof and house painting to me, $200 a month for my HOA dues.  Which is totally worth it.

We got the notice two weeks ago about the painting. They were going to “wash” down our house first and then start painting a few days later.  Angry Husband said that they washed down the house while I was in Tennessee.  His actual comment was “the idiots are washing down the house and it’s pouring raining outside.”  This was a week ago, last Friday.  It raining off and on, Monday-Wednesday of this week. Guess when they started painting?

Oh yea, Thursday morning. You know the morning after Angry Julie had to work swing shift. When Julie has only had 2.5 hours of sleep.  Angry Husband is getting ready to take Angry Kid to preschool Thursday morning, and then he comes back in the house. It was around 7am, and he says, “umm yea, they are painting the house today, and they are starting now.” Sigh, of course they were. I was in my sleep zone.  I had my special spot in the down comforter.  And then, the ladder hits the side of the house. I can literally hear the dogs perk up.  And it starts…bark, bark, bark…

I drag myself to the garage.  I look at the dogs, and tell them to shut up. I then barely make it back to the bedroom. I get in my sweet spot again. And then I hear stomping, I look up. I go outside to look. I see the painters literally climbing onto my roof to get into my backyard.  The dogs are barking so much, they are loosing their minds.  I text Angry Husband. He tells me to “lock the dogs into the garage for the day.” I knew that it would not calm them down to lock them in the garage. I made a decision. It was an expensive decision.

In all my pajama glory, I put on a hoodie and my flip flops.  Yes, I was wearing my fabulous flannel pajama pants with the dogs on them.  I grabbed the leashes and my keys.  I put the dogs in Angry Husband’s truck, and headed straight towards my destination. I walked in there, and the employees started laughing at me. Yes, I went to the vet to board them. I did not care how much it cost me. I needed sleep.  I also knew that the dogs would drive my neighbors crazy, and I imagined the Animal Control Officer at my front door.

I checked them in, until Saturday. The painters told me that it would take them two days to finish painting. Did I get sleep on Thursday? Heck no! They made more noise than the roofers. Seriously, slamming ladders against the walls, stomping on the roof.  You would think that spending this much time on the paint, it would look awesome, right? Yea, it’s totally sloppy. I never got a nap.  I went to work and it was hell.

I am now home sick from work tonight.  I have a huge sinus infection headache.  I can’t tell if it’s from the cats at the vet, or the paint. I’m allergic to both.  But, it’s sooooo quiet in our house. It’s amazing how much noise our barky little dogs make. I kinda miss them.  It’s weird see their dog bed empty.

And the painting….still NOT DONE!

P.S. That totally adorable photo.  I took it in 2006. Angry Kid was Angry Baby, at 13 months old. Isn’t he cute?

Nashville’s Newest Stars

As you know that I attended the Blissdom Conference in Nashville last weekend.  And if you didn’t know this, well you must not read my blog.  I mean really, who wouldn’t read my blog.  Anyway, I lost my camera charger for my SLR somewhere in my house.  My camera died halfway through Saturday night. I was pretty bummed because I knew that the night was young, and there were pictures to take.

They had this great Casual Pajama Party and Movie Night Planned.  It was great,e veryone dressed really comfortable.  There was food and snacks.  But I knew it would good if I stayed around for awhile. I was only able to take 2-3 photographs while I was there. But then, the fun began.  Hmmm, oh yes, karaoke……cause you know karaoke brings out the magic in people.  Everyone becomes a professional singer. Even bloggers.  I saw some great entertainment when the karaoke began. But really, I’m so glad that I had my purse with me. My purse is always full of junk, but I had an epiphany…you see, I had my Flip Mino in my purse. How awesome is that! I love this little mini video camera.

Because it captures awesome events like this…

P.S. If you don’t know who this duet is, well…you need to get out more, or online more. It’s Tanis, The Redneck Mommy and Jim, Busy Dad.

P.P.S. I suck at editing videos. Really, I don’t know what I’m doing.  HELP!!

Grab My Button

Angry Julie Monday

Recommended

Advertise here






FitFluential Is Fitness Found