Have you ever ridden Mickey's Death Wheel at Disneyland? Okay... technically it's called Mickey's Fun Wheel... but since it's one of the only rides that has ever made me feel like I wanted to die... Death Wheel it is!
Don't let it's bright colors and smiling face fool you. The cars that are stationary are fine. The ones that roll and sway are evil. Completely. The last few days my stomach has been in knots... like I've been on a continuous Death Wheel ride. Let me explain...
Tomorrow is our first day of school and Friday was the open house for all 3 schools. We started at the middle school and the line to get into the school went out to the parking lot. I dropped off Hubby and Red and the rest of us headed to the next school to figure out who Baby Girl's teacher would be (the schools here are weird... we don't find out who the teacher will be till the Friday before school starts! Insane...).
We got to the school, scanned the lists and my heart sank. Baby Girl has the same teacher that Red had last year. She's not a HORRIBLE teacher, but she did manage to make me very crazy last year. But I have this kind of weird attitude about teachers. We don't always get to choose the people we work with in life. And some of those people are going to make us crazy...so, Baby Girl will stay in the class. I'm not going to ask for her to be moved... but I think it's going to be stressful.
Next we headed over to meet Little Bug's new teachers. He was supposed to be in a class that had 2 teachers that would rotate the kids back and forth for different subjects. This last school year was not an easy one for him. There was a little girl in the class who was very aggressive and Little Bug came home over and over with scratches on his face. He also regressed A LOT last year. He stopped reading out loud and we can't get him to do the math he was really enjoying in California. So, we were excited for him to be in this new class.
Imagine my surprise to see that his name wasn't listed on ANY class list. We went in, asked the secretary, she checked with the registrar, who informed us that they had been told we wouldn't be returning this year. So they didn't have him in a class. At all. They made a few quick phone calls and the district Special Ed put him in a class. The same class as last year. With the same little girl who made things so miserable.
Can you say Mama Bear??
I was in tears and more than a tad angry. I was told I could go visit the district office if I wanted to chat with them about the placement. At that point I was ready for more than a chat. I went and talked with them. They were very nice and listened to my concerns. Then they put him in the class I requested. I didn't even have to shake my fists at them :)
So, back to the school to meet the teachers. Little Bug wanted to go to his old class. He was not happy about going to the new room. The teacher was not happy to have another student in her class (it's a big class...) and wasn't exactly pleasant. And as I watched some of the other kids come in and out I wondered if it would be the right place for him.
We were finally able to go back to the middle school to get Red and Hubby and head home. But there has been a pit in my stomach since then...
That leads us to today... I didn't get to meet any of Red's teachers. I don't know who they are or what they are like. I've heard a few bad things about this middle school and I'm worried for him... a lot. Baby Girl will be dealing with a teacher this year whose moods swing like a pendulum. She's a bit unpredictable and not always easy to get along with. And then... we have Little Bug. I hope this new class will work, but if it doesn't, they will put him back in his old classroom. And when I think of him in that class I start to feel like I'm on Mickey's Death Wheel all over again.
I can't wait for tomorrow. Perhaps then I'll have a sense of how this year is going to be and then I can get off this crazy ride!
