Bittersweet First

Domino started first grade yesterday.

I found myself full of angst all day yesterday. It was a stress I couldn't quite pinpoint to anything in particular, but rather a whole slew of silly things.

We started the day off full of questions - most importantly what teacher Domino would have. Our school doesn't post which class your student will be in until the Friday afternoon before school starts. Living a good 20 miles away, I wasn't about to make an extra trip over there just to find out info I couldn't do anything about.

Domino's wonderful teacher from K/1 last year is now teaching a full 1st grade class. I had really hoped (and quite honestly expected, given the glowing recommendation and parent evaluation I passed along at the end of last school year) that she would be Domino's teacher again this year. I was comfortable and confident with her teaching style and thrilled we had found the right course and level of reading for Domino. I was looking forward to having that history in place. Sadly, this was not the case.

The bulk of Domino's friends, especially Pretty Princess, are not in his class. There are 16 kids in his class, and 3 are the biggest disciplinary problems. One is a boy who Domino on more than one occasion last year called a bully - and I swear the kid has to be 8 years old. Another is the girl who took Domino's hat off and taunted him with it. The third is a girl who was in his class last year and has no self control whatsoever. One day when I was working in class I actually caught her breaking the tips of pencils off in the electrical outlets! She's a huge distraction for the class and I resent her robbing all the other kids of their learning. If the first 2 kids weren't enough to make me sick to my stomach, her name on the roster was enough to make my heart hurt.

When I saw all this info on the roster first thing in the morning, I just wanted to cry. Domino goes to a great school and I'm sure he's in good hands. I tried to not let my disappointment show and Domino seemed fine with it all. When I told him he would not have the same teacher as last year, he said "That's ok Mom. I already graduated from her class last year. I need a new teacher this year" and immediately starting dancing around doing his version of karate and Transformer moves. He made me smile.

He already handles life better than I do.

I don't want to make any early or hasty presumptions about his new teacher because I really don't have any first hand knowledge of her, but I heard another group of parents (those who got into last year's teacher's class) say how relieved they were because his new teacher "isn't good with boys". I didn't feel comfortable enough with the women to stick my head into a conversation I wasn't invited in to say "Excuse me?? Not good with boys?? What do you mean? I've got a boy and that troubles me!" So now, I'm left with a huge question mark about what to expect this year. I can only hope that he was specifically selected for that class to help keep it balanced and grounded.

I also had a high of highs yesterday, to be dealt the blow of blows this morning. Well really, in the grand scheme of things it's all trivial, but at the time (and still sorta now) it was big. I learned yesterday that there is a new girl in Domino's class WHO LIVES IN THE SAME CITY AS US. (That's such huge news that it deserved the all screaming CAPS.) Instantly visions of the perfect $ saving carpool danced in my head. After school playdates! A more normal neighborhood feel! This morning I learned there are 4 kids in her family, ranging from middle school to infant. Needless to say, her mom has her car and hands full and is not interested in a carpool. The grandma picks her up from kindergarten each day and Dad picks her up from Grandma's after work. Phooey.

I guess I need to take a cue from Domino and just dance around and realize it's all no big deal.