Unauthorized OJ
The new school year is going about as well as you'd expect . . . assuming that you were expecting mornings replete with screams of "LEAVE ME ALONE!" and evenings filled with "I know it's only the fourth day of school but yes, I forgot my math book." (And then, "LEAVE ME ALONE! YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ME!") It can only get better, right? Middle school starts a lot earlier than elementary school, and I knew it was going to be a rocky transition. However, she doesn't really have a choice. It's not like I have the luxury of quitting my job and home-schooling her. She's gotta suck it up.
There are some bright spots, though. I think the kid is learning to be more independent. She takes a bus to/from school. However, if she stays late for an after-school activity, she has to catch a city bus. She did that last week for the first time so now we've cleared that hurdle. I'm not really sure how much independence to require from her at this age. I'm fairly certain that if I didn't remind her to take a shower periodically, she'd simply stop showering.
On the second day of school, my little songbird auditioned for her middle school's show choir. We were on pins and needles for several days but when the list was posted, her name was on it! We had heard about good singers not getting in (in prior years), so we were nervous. I was so proud of her when she made it, though. Rehearsals started immediately - and boy, are they frequent. In looking at the schedule, she will need to be at rehearsals several days a week (after school) for the next few months. Fortunately, the city choir (of which she is also a member) rehearses on Sunday evenings so they shouldn't conflict. So yeah, she will be singing. A lot. And her dad and I will be driving her around. A lot. I can't begin to tell you how glad I am that she doesn't play sports. She indicated an interest in running cross country, but I just felt like it would be too much. We may revisit the idea when the track and field season kicks off in the spring. She's actually a very fast runner. I haven't been able to beat her since she was two or so. And even then it was just by a hair.
The other challenge we've faced is with her lunch money. I guess she either forgot that I can see what she buys with her lunch card or she just thought I wouldn't look. But yeah, I looked. It turns out that someone sure likes orange juice and ice cream. I don't know if drinking a regular ol' Capri-Sun is just not cool now that she's in middle school? The agreement we have is that she will buy lunch a couple days a week and bring lunch from home on the other days. According to the usage report, she buys lunch just about every day and also sips a daily orange juice (to the tune of $1.25 every day). So, she blew through $21.25 in just a handful of days. Needless to say, I won't be replenishing her lunch fund right away.
If she keeps this up, I'm going to buy her a Dora the Explorer lunch box and make her take that to school.
There are some bright spots, though. I think the kid is learning to be more independent. She takes a bus to/from school. However, if she stays late for an after-school activity, she has to catch a city bus. She did that last week for the first time so now we've cleared that hurdle. I'm not really sure how much independence to require from her at this age. I'm fairly certain that if I didn't remind her to take a shower periodically, she'd simply stop showering.
On the second day of school, my little songbird auditioned for her middle school's show choir. We were on pins and needles for several days but when the list was posted, her name was on it! We had heard about good singers not getting in (in prior years), so we were nervous. I was so proud of her when she made it, though. Rehearsals started immediately - and boy, are they frequent. In looking at the schedule, she will need to be at rehearsals several days a week (after school) for the next few months. Fortunately, the city choir (of which she is also a member) rehearses on Sunday evenings so they shouldn't conflict. So yeah, she will be singing. A lot. And her dad and I will be driving her around. A lot. I can't begin to tell you how glad I am that she doesn't play sports. She indicated an interest in running cross country, but I just felt like it would be too much. We may revisit the idea when the track and field season kicks off in the spring. She's actually a very fast runner. I haven't been able to beat her since she was two or so. And even then it was just by a hair.
The other challenge we've faced is with her lunch money. I guess she either forgot that I can see what she buys with her lunch card or she just thought I wouldn't look. But yeah, I looked. It turns out that someone sure likes orange juice and ice cream. I don't know if drinking a regular ol' Capri-Sun is just not cool now that she's in middle school? The agreement we have is that she will buy lunch a couple days a week and bring lunch from home on the other days. According to the usage report, she buys lunch just about every day and also sips a daily orange juice (to the tune of $1.25 every day). So, she blew through $21.25 in just a handful of days. Needless to say, I won't be replenishing her lunch fund right away.
If she keeps this up, I'm going to buy her a Dora the Explorer lunch box and make her take that to school.
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