First Day of School

Yesterday was the first day of school for JoAnna. Hyrum had his Kindergarten Orientation and will officially start next Monday after all the Kindergarten testing. Our school has been building a new additional building for the K-2 classes. The poor teachers only got clearance to move into them on Friday, so guess what they've been doing this past weekend? Before that, they were just planning to have to use the existing portables and move after a few days. So, ready or not, the first day happened. Hyrum's teacher this year seems to be universally known as one of the best teachers. She comes complete with several years' experience, lots of patience, and a "nice sweet voice" (Hyrum's assessment). JoAnna's teacher is continually described as a "really good teacher". This is usually spoken between parents, pointedly turned away from JoAnna with an expression of sympathy and best wishes. She's said to be extremely organized and requires order in her classroom. Some kids do well in her class and get along fine. With kids whose behavior has struggled in other classrooms, she miraculously pulls them in line. But they probably don't like her much for it. So, while I've been careful not to feed any ideas to JoAnna so that she can see for herself, I have also been curious to see how my, somewhat flighty, social butterfly will be affected by such an opportunity. It really could go either way, depending on her attitude about it. I'm determined, at least, to help guide her toward a good attitude about it all and to look for things to learn from this years' experiences. JoAnna's summary at the end of school yesterday was, "I think she's a very nice woman. She's just not a very fun teacher." I fought not to laugh at how well spoken she can be.

The highlight of Jo's day, as it turned out, happened later in the evening when she FINALLY lost her first tooth. (Did I mention it was her first day in SECOND grade? I have been told that losing teeth late usually leads to healthier teeth, but the poor girl's waited through a lot of friends' missing teeth for this one.) She, of course, couldn't get enough looking in the mirror. This excitement was amplified by having added bangs to her haircut the day before. In the life of a 7 year old, who cares about school when you've got a whole new look?