Back2Skool Nite

Back to School night for the first grade was last night, and 1.5 hours is a really long time to sit in those tiny little chairs.

Highlights:

1. When I found A's desk, his "journal writing" for the day was on the top for display. It was one sentence answering the question, "What is your favorite living thing?"

A wrote: "My favorite living thing is [teacher's name]."

I was one of the first parents to arrive, saw it, laughed out loud and said cheerfully to the teacher, "Hey! Look at that! He's already kissing up!" (I almost said, "sucking up," but caught myself in time).

She looked at me blankly and replied, "I thought it was rather sweet."

Me: "Yes, yes, of course it's sweet." Sorry for being so cynical. I'm sure there's no ulterior motive [barf]. Actually, I was kind of proud of him. As a former Teacher's Pet myself, I know it's important to jockey for position right at the start.

2. Because I need to be hit over the head with a brick, at the end of the night I asked her if I could volunteer to drive for field trips even though I could only fit two kids in the back of my sedan (they really prefer those who can take three).

Her: "OK, so that would be A. and one other child."

Me (with dramatic wave of my hand): "Naw. I don't want A., let someone else deal with him."

Her: "Oh, OK."

Me: "I'M KIDDING."


More bad news: On Halloween, the first - third grades don't get to wear their costumes. Oh, no. They get to pick an historical figure from a list, take home a biography of that person (i.e. to be read with the parents), and bring THAT costume to school for the big historical parade, which the teacher assures us is "just wonderful."

I'm going to lobby for Julius Cesar since we already have the toga. But watch him pick Louis XIV or something stupid like that.