Career Day Instead of Halloween

Today my Facebook feed is filled with kids who are dressed in their Halloween best for school today. Today my child is dressed as a police officer because it's career day.

While there is nothing wrong with having a career day, but I think it's a cop out when they do instead of Halloween. Partly because I had to buy Emily two costumes this year, and partly because part of the fun of Halloween as a kid is being able to wear your costume to school!

Emily is excited to be Officer Emily today and be in the costume parade. So I'm keeping my opinions away from her. Tomorrow she will don her Anna costume to go trick or treating. And it's an extra treat this year that Halloween is on a Saturday because that means Todd gets to go trick or treating with us.

The Most Terrifying First Day of School

There have been a few times in my life that I've been utterly terrified. The time when I nearly was plowed into by a semi during a snow storm or the time a fair ride tried to kill me and my mom. But on Monday, I experienced the worst terror I've ever experienced.

Monday was Emily's first day of 1st grade. Since Monday's are my normal day off, both Todd and I took her to school. Usually Todd is the one who will drop her off. Because I work until 3:30 the other days of the week, Emily has to ride the bus home.

I got to the bus stop - which is one house down from ours - pretty early. The bus was late because the main road to our neighborhood was closed thanks to a power line being down. I waited, and all the kids got off the bus - but no Emily.

I talked to the bus driver, and he hadn't seen her, so he called the dispatch and the school. She was missing for what seemed like forever. I got in my car, and headed to the school because they said they would route whatever bus she was on back to the school.

They did call to say they found her while I was on the way to the school. I panic attacked my way to the school - it was probably ten minutes before Emily and the bus driver walked through the doors.

She was crying when she came through the doors, and I was crying. I hugged her so tight, and ended up getting her a Happy Meal for supper because I was already hurting thanks to all the crying and anxiety.

Because of our McDonald's trip and the detour around the downed power line, Emily finally got home two hours after she should have gotten off the bus. She calmed down pretty fast once home, it took me a bit longer.

Yesterday, I felt anxious as it came time for the bus to drop her off, but she had been put on the right bus. But she came off the bus where she was suppose to be. She was very happy about that.

Hopefully this will be the last time for a while that my kid is lost. I don't want to feel that fear again.

The School Closing Conundrum

The part of Michigan that I grew up in, we rarely had snow days. I lived about five miles from Lake Michigan so we got a lovely thing called lake effect snow. The weather would have to be super bad for school to close.

Now I live in western NC and things are different here. Now I do realized that they don't have the amount of equipment that they do in Michigan, but sometimes the school closings seem a little bit of an overreaction. 

Emily is in her last year of going to school at our church. They follow the county next to us' school closings usually. Early this week, there was some icy roads in the mountains and parents took to Facebook to complain bitterly how the school system had put their kids in danger. 

This morning I wake up and Facebook lets me know there are school closings. I went and checked and the county schools were on there. 

Now it didn't snow here last night. It's windy and cold but that's not a reason, in my opinion, to close school. I honestly think that the school system didn't want to piss off anymore parents and just decided to close for today. Especially since it is Friday.

Thankfully, Emily's school decided not to close. It's PJ day in her class today and she was really looking forward to it. Todd bundled her up with her stuffy and blanket to have a fun day at school.

We are in the mountains so I do understand that it can be a conundrum. There can nothing where I live in the foothills but in the higher elevations there can be some ice and snow. It just seems so odd and almost silly to me, a Michigan girl, to look outside, see nothing on the ground or road, and have the possibility of no school for Emily.

Kindergarten Readiness Rally

Yesterday, Todd, Emily and I headed to Hendersonville for the Kindergarten Readiness Rally. We weren't really sure what to expect but we try to do the kid-friendly activities around town when we can.

From one end of the mall to another, there were tables of the local schools. At each table, there was some sort of activity. All things that Kindergarten aged kids should be able to do.

Emily had a blast! She did very good at everything. She can sort her colors, she can do some spelling / reading and she's excellent with counting and math.

One of the tables had her write her name down. The lady then wrote Emily's name in different colors and cut out each letter to make a puzzle. Emily easily put the puzzle together, told the lady the letters and the colors. The lady at that table was very impressed.

Emily's been in preschool for two years now and I think that's helped her a lot with learning and preparing for kindergarten. We also have been working on her letters and reading a lot at home lately.

At her school's table, she got to meet the teachers she'll have for next year. She also got to make a stick figure of herself. She got a lot of goodies too - pencils, a cup of dirt with a seed in it and even a new book.

Emily had a great time and it's nice to see that she is indeed ready for Kindergarten. We are keeping her at her preschool for one last year because she loves her school. Then she will head off to public school for 1st grade.

My Feelings On Snow

As winter approaches, so does the colder weather with the threat of snow. We actually have snow in the forecast for tonight and I’m feeling a little conflicted about it.

Mostly because I hate snow with a passion, except between Thanksgiving and Christmas when I love snow. I grew up in Michigan and I lived very close to Lake Michigan. Because of the lake, we would get tons of snow every year because of the lake effect. Snow would start usually in late October / early November and wouldn’t let up until late February / early March. Usually once the snow came, you wouldn’t see the grass again until spring.

Snow in December made it feel Christmas-y but once it was December 26, I was already sick of it. I was never fond of the cold when I was a child and the best part about playing in the snow was the hot chocolate afterwards. As I grew up, my hatred of snow outside of Christmas increased as it just became a pain.

I was extremely happy to move down South were snow doesn’t happen very often. Most of the eight years we’ve lived her, we haven’t gotten more than a dusting or two. Of course, that means mostly green Christmases, which is a little sad but I can deal with it.

They do freak out down here over the threat of snow. Schools have been canceled in the past because a snow storm was in the forecast – most of the time it never actually snows. And everyone goes to the store to stock up on bread and milk when snow is in the forecast.

We’ll see what happens tonight. I’ve been feeling festive already so a little snow would be nice since we don’t get a lot down here. Plus I work from home now so I don’t have to go out in the cold unless I choose to!

First Day of Pre-K!

Emily started school again today. Because the cut-off here is August 31st, she still in preschool. She's in the Pre-K class this year.

Emily was very excited to get back to school. Most of her friends from last year are in her class this year. Todd is also excited since he'll use the time she's in school to work on his school work.

I'm very happy that my little girl loves school so much. I hope that continues as she gets older!