Follow up to Hayden's 1st Day of School

I have a confession.  I did cry once on Hayden's first day of school.  And once I started I had a hard time drying myself up!  We had just sat down for lunch and the mood was kinda dampened all day, and when I looked over and saw his empty seat at the table I just couldn't hold it in anymore.  Poor Allie was trying to console me, and it helped, but I still missed him!

After lunch Kevin, me, and the three other kids went to get Hayden some new socks.  Kevin said his socks were too tall for his shoes, and he wanted his boy looking like a stud.  So, he has 10 new pair of "cool socks" :)  When we got home, it was about 2 o'clock.  I had a fun idea to get Hayden a big cookie from the mall to celebrate his first day.  Allie and I called in the order and quickly headed to the mall.  We were home by 3, so we just had another 25 minutes to kill before the bus got here.  We waited inside about 15 minutes and couldn't wait any longer, so Kevin walked to the bus stop to wait for him while I stayed on the porch with Allie because the two littlest were napping.

Kevin texted me around 3:25 that he saw his bus.  I jumped up and got my camera ready, but it went on by.  Wrong bus.  Total bummer.  A few more minutes passed and then we saw his bus!  He ran quickly to Kevin and then ran to me and Allie.  I couldn't wait to get inside and hear all about the day! 

Allie and I took a ton of silly selfies to pass the time while we waited for Hayden!

We spent a few minutes getting the quick run down on the day and telling him how much we missed him, and about the time we sat down at the table to see what all he had brought home, my phone rang.  It was a Newburgh number and I just immediately thought it was probably the school.  It was.  A lady introduced herself and instantly I thought something was wrong, something had happened.  Again, I was right.  About an hour ago, they hired a new 1st grade teacher and were moving Hayden to that new class the next day.  He was to report to his original teacher, and then someone would come and move him.  I'm not one to usually ask questions or start a confrontation, but this mama bear was NOT happy about this.

I expressed our desire for him to stay in Mrs. Boris's class, told her how we were really pleased with her, questioned why Hayden was picked, and wondered why they would move a brand new student.  The whole school experience was new enough, I didn't think pulling the rug out from under him on day 2 would be good for anyone.  She could tell by my voice I wasn't happy, and I didn't love how she kept trying to make me feel unjustified in my feelings.  She kept telling me how much I'd love this new teacher, but for pete sake the woman was just hired an hour ago, and there's no way she'd even have a room prepared and ready for kids.

Kevin and I discussed our options when I hung up the phone.  I texted some people with connections and found out they moved all the "new to Castle" students, along with a few other randomly selected kids to the new class.  The lady on the phone told me the whole process was a random drawl, so I didn't appreciate being lied to (and I may still tell someone that)!  I told Kevin that the smaller class size was definitely a good thing, and with the 22 kids that got moved, probably no one was happy about it, and I don't think they'd honor our request to keep him put and move someone else.

Kevin put a very positive spin on the situation and told Hayden they picked the 4 best kids out of every class to move to a brand new class tomorrow, and they picked him.  He seemed excited, but when I started explaining there would be a new teacher, a new locker, a new classroom, he wasn't convinced (and neither was I).  We decided to give it a go.

Even though we were thrown a curve ball, we still celebrated the school day with this cookie!  We put 1 candle in it so he could blow it out, and sang a made up version of "Happy First Day of School to you" to the tune of  "Happy Birthday to you".  He felt special :)

I felt more anxious on Day #2 than I did the day before.  I wondered how the transition into his new room went, if he had any trouble getting where he was going (since he insisted on riding the bus), what his new teacher was like, who she was, did he know anyone in the class..... and he came home with really no answers.  His day was "great,"  he made "11 new friends but didn't ask their names", but he couldn't tell me anything he had done other than eat lunch and play at recess.  All his cards/bookrental/wavers I filled out and signed were still in his folder and hadn't been collected.  I wondered what had gone on all day and my mind was not eased.  I was expecting a note from the teacher introducing herself, or just some kind of communication from her, and there was none.  Hayden did end up telling me he was supposed to draw a picture of someone he loved, and he drew me (awww) and he was supposed to write his favorite color at the top of that page, so he did do something!

Kevin and I talked and decided I should take him to school on Day #3 to meet the new teacher.  She seemed friendly but I could tell the whole situation was overwhelming.  The room had very little decoration, but she seemed upbeat and friendly that things would be looking better in the weeks to come.  I felt bad for her, because that has to be a stressful situation to be in, but on the other hand, Hayden isn't getting as good of an experience as he could have if they would have just left him in his original class.  So I'm really torn about the whole situation.  Yay for smaller classes, but Boo for making all these kids move once the school year has started!  (And anyone that's ever worked in or had kids in the school system says this is a very common thing, so if this was news to you, be prepared!)

Meet the teacher night is planned for next week, so I'm excited to see what all she's thinking she will do for the school year.  I signed up to be a room mom and help with the PTO because I want to be a part of what is going on in his class.  On a positive note, I am pleased that his room is not right up front; it's more tucked away towards the back of the school which makes me feel safer.  We are definitely still in transition mode.  I will give another update when this grading period is over. 

Hayden on Day #2 - he was feeling confident!