Meet the Teacher/Pack the Locker Night

School is starting today (for 3 out of 4, Evelyn will start next week), which means that last night was Meet the Teacher night at the Elementary.  It's crazy to think that Calvin isn't in this picture anymore, and that our Sweet Evelyn IS!

 We had multiple classrooms to visit, and started in the preschool with Miss Laura's classroom. She found Evelyn's pod and helped unload her supplies.  Evelyn is going to love having Miss Laura as her preschool teacher!

 Next we headed to C pod (home of 4th & 5th grade) to find Oliver's classroom.  I was so excited that he got Mrs. Chandler!  This is the first time that my boys have had the same teacher for any grade.  She is definitely one of my favorites and I know Oliver will have a fabulous year with her!  She let the kids choose their own desks, which is a pretty huge decision.  Oliver and Coby took their time finding the perfect spots.

 These look good!  Oliver is pumped to have Coby in his class again this year.

 Mrs. Chandler had goodie bags for each of the kids, and I'm pretty sure Oliver's was gone before we even made it home. 

 With her sense of humor, I know Oliver is going to love this year!

 Our final stop in the elementary school was Miss Violet's classroom.  We found her desk and talked with her teacher, Ms. Robertson.

 We also stopped by her special ed classroom to talk with Mrs. Byard -- Violet is a popular girl!

 Although I'm still a bit in denial, the day was coming whether I'm ready or not -- Middle School for my Calvin James!  Their "Pack the Locker" night was also last night.  I attempted to get a picture of Calvin by the rocks that say Wellsville Middle School, but the grasses were a little tall over the key word "Middle."  I'm already the crazy mom with the camera, so figured I shouldn't TOTALLY embarrass my kid by bringing hedge clippers to trim the landscaping.  You'll just have to take my word that the rock opposite Calvin says "Middle."

 Heading in to find his locker #209, he left the rest of us in his dust -- already too cool for the ol' family??

 He spent a little time practicing the combination on his lock (the most stressful part of middle school, I've heard), and then got his supplies properly loaded.  I laughed as I saw all of the girls getting their lockers decorated with all sorts of pictures and background papers.  I'm sure they used the entire hour getting their lockers just right.  Calvin took about 37 seconds to get his stuff put in and the locker closed.

 We walked around the school to find where all of his classes would be, and then our night was done.

Well, not completely done.  When we got home, we talked about goals for the year and things the boys might be nervous about.  Then I read them the same letter I've read every year since Calvin started kindergarten.  I just love the message and hope my kids understand the importance of what it says.  (Although it may take a few more readings. . .When I started to read last night, Calvin asked "Is this the letter about the boy named Adam and the Pokemon cards?"  Um, not exactly son. I'll keep trying.)  Thank you to Glennon Doyle at Momastery blog for not only writing such a beautiful message, but gladly sharing it for all of us to use as well! (Credit: http://momastery.com/blog/2014/08/21/the-one-letter-to-read/)

THE ONE LETTER TO READ BEFORE SENDING YOUR CHILD TO SCHOOL

Hey Baby.

Tomorrow is a big day. Third Grade – wow.

Chase – When I was in third grade, there was a little boy in my class named Adam.

Adam looked a little different and he wore funny clothes and sometimes he even smelled a little bit. Adam didn’t smile. He hung his head low and he never looked at anyone at all. Adam never did his homework. I don’t think his parents reminded him like yours do. The other kids teased Adam a lot. Whenever they did, his head hung lower and lower and lower. I never teased him, but I never told the other kids to stop, either.

And I never talked to Adam, not once. I never invited him to sit next to me at lunch, or to play with me at recess. Instead, he sat and played by himself. He must have been very lonely.

I still think about Adam every day. I wonder if Adam remembers me? Probably not. I bet if I’d asked him to play, just once, he’d still remember me.

I think that God puts people in our lives as gifts to us. The children in your class this year, they are some of God’s gifts to you.

So please treat each one like a gift from God. Every single one.

Baby, if you see a child being left out, or hurt, or teased, a little part of your heart will hurt a little. Your daddy and I want you to trust that heart- ache. Your whole life, we want you to notice and trust your heart-ache. That heart ache is called compassion, and it is God’s signal to you to do something. It is God saying, Chase! Wake up! One of my babies is hurting! Do something to help! Whenever you feel compassion – be thrilled! It means God is speaking to you, and that is magic. It means He trusts you and needs you.

Sometimes the magic of compassion will make you step into the middle of a bad situation right away.

Compassion might lead you to tell a teaser to stop it and then ask the teased kid to play. You might invite a left-out kid to sit next to you at lunch. You might choose a kid for your team first who usually gets chosen last. These things will be hard to do, but you can do hard things.

Sometimes you will feel compassion but you won’t step in right away. That’s okay, too. You might choose instead to tell your teacher and then tell us. We are on your team – we are on your whole class’ team. Asking for help for someone who is hurting is not tattling, it is doing the right thing. If someone in your class needs help, please tell me, baby. We will make a plan to help together.

When God speaks to you by making your heart hurt for another, by giving you compassion, just do something. Please do not ignore God whispering to you. I so wish I had not ignored God when He spoke to me about Adam. I remember Him trying, I remember feeling compassion, but I chose fear over compassion. I wish I hadn’t. Adam could have used a friend and I could have, too.

Chase – We do not care if you are the smartest or fastest or coolest or funniest. There will be lots of contests at school, and we don’t care if you win a single one of them. We don’t care if you get straight As. We don’t care if the girls think you’re cute or whether you’re picked first or last for kickball at recess. We don’t care if you are your teacher’s favorite or not. We don’t care if you have the best clothes or most Pokemon cards or coolest gadgets. We just don’t care.

We don’t send you to school to become the best at anything at all. We already love you as much as we possibly could. You do not have to earn our love or pride and you can’t lose it. That’s done.

We send you to school to practice being brave and kind.

Kind people are brave people. Because brave is not a feeling that you should wait for. It is a decision. It is a decision that compassion is more important than fear, than fitting in, than following the crowd.

Trust me, baby, it is. It is more important.

Don’t try to be the best this year, honey.

Just be grateful and kind and brave. That’s all you ever need to be.

Take care of those classmates of yours, and your teacher, too. You Belong to Each Other. You are one lucky boy . . . with all of these new gifts to unwrap this year.

I love you so much that my heart might explode.

Enjoy and cherish your gifts.

And thank you for being my favorite gift of all time.

Love,
Mama

I'm praying that my kiddos take care of the gifts God has given them at school this year.  And I'm praying that they are having a great first day today!!