Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz, Oh What a Relief It Is!

Psst. I have a secret. Want me to let you in on it? Okay, here goes . . .

I am stressed out!!!

Or at least, I was. But not anymore. For now. I can be really annoying that way.

It's been all of ten days since Tyler and Darcy started at PCA. Man, has it really only been ten days??? No wonder kids can't wait to get out of school--it feels like it's been an eternity! I don't mean that in a bad way, I just mean that it already feels like they've been doing this forever. Nevertheless, I would be less than honest if I didn't admit that I have freaked out on more than one occasion. Don't forget, this is all new to me, too. The kids? Ppppfffft--they've got this school thing down cold. It's Mom who needs counseling.

I went to my very first parent-teacher conference today. Oh yes I did! Only, it was parent-requested. That ought to tell you something right there. My friend who shall remain nameless for reasons passing understanding thinks I'm insane. She suggested . . . no, she ordered me to come out of the meeting with FIVE positive statements that the teachers made about my kids. So I was going to make a joke and tell her that the kids' teachers told me they'd never seen two students more ill-prepared to go out into the world than Tyler and Darcy, and that obviously it stemmed from the poor job I'd done homeschooling them and that, furthermore, I am a failure as a parent. Think she'd buy that? Nah, me either.

Turns out my kids are pretty bright. Good students, or so the teachers say. And that's in spite of the fact that they have been dumped into a new state/city/house/church/school smack-dab in the middle of the year. And that's also in spite of the fact that I was their teacher for the last six years. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.) Both kids' teachers couldn't have been more encouraging, and I have never been more relieved. I can be very hard on myself, you see. Yes I can.

One little story that Darcy's teacher told tickled me. I had just been relating that I was concerned because it occurred to me that, being homeschooled, Tyler and Darcy did not really know how to "study" for tests. We've always checked their comprehension orally and I shared that with the teachers. Darcy's teacher got a look on her face like the light was dawning, and she said, "Well, that explains why Darcy came up to my desk during a test and asked if she could look in her book." Doesn't that just make you smile? (Don't worry--she aced the test even without the book.)

Both teachers affirmed that Tyler and Darcy are coming right along and that this "transition time" will soon be a distant memory. I've mentioned in a previous post that the one thing hanging Tyler up appeared to be Shurley Grammar, and his teacher reiterated that she was not grading the portion of his papers that covers the parts that are uniquely "Shurley," that is, that have to conform to the methods that Tyler has not learned yet. Even so, he's working hard to learn said methods because, frankly, I think he's just ready to be on the same page with everyone else. Tyler is also exempt from a major project that the rest of the 5th graders are working on because he literally came in at the tail end of it. I quickly asked, "Do you think he could be exempt from the Science Fair too?!"

Hmm, for some reason she thought I was joking. Odd.