It's Only Tuesday??

Oh, my goodness!


What a week! And it's only Tuesday.



So, here's the low down:



Today was Matt's first day at kindergarten (will post a picture soon - having some computer issues). We have him registered at a Christian School that is out in the country a little ways from our town (only about 5 or ten minutes, so not really that far).



However, any distance that takes 5 or ten minutes to drive means that it is not within "walk to and from school" distance. Matt will be a "bus kid". Last spring when we were filling out all the forms to register Matt for school, we filled one out to register him for the bus route. The bus would apparently leave at 8:10 and return at 4:00. Perfect. I can put him on the bus in the mornings and still be at work on time. As far as after school - Matthew was going to ride the bus to Olds with a little girl from his class whose mom runs a day home (they go to our church - this is how I know the family and managed to make the connection - day homes are not easy to find around here!). I would pick him up in Olds after work twice a week - a little bit of driving, but not the end of the world.



Guess what??!! The school district will not allow Matt to ride the bus to Olds. The rule is "kids who come from Didsbury go back to Didsbury." Aaaagghh! When I was speaking to the transportation department in the spring I asked if he could ride the bus to a different stop. They told me that "yes" - as long as he's on a scheduled route getting off at a scheduled stop he can ride the school district's bus. I took that at face value. What was I thinking?



So now, here we are, with Matt registered in a school that he has actually gone to once - so he thinks that's his classroom, and he thinks that Mrs. Abel is his teacher, and that Mr. Brown who gave him jelly beans today is the "prince" of the school....and my poor little boy is going to be sent home on a bus with no one at the other end to meet him!!!! This is not okay. This is how kids end up on the milk carton.



Okay, so I calmed down and I phoned the public school down the street. I am miraculously able to speak to the vice principal on week two of classes. They have 3 kindergarten classes - the two day a week classes are full, however, she would be willing to place him in her class that she teaches (five days a week, mornings only). However, I would then need to permanently and without any flexibility or lee-way change my lunch hour to 11:30 -12:30 so that I could pick him up and take him to day care. I'm not entirely sure that would truly be feasible with my job. My employer and co-workers would be super supportive, but let's face it, reality hits - daily, and it's not always possible to leave the office at that specific time each day.



Then, enter the wonderful neighbour lady who works at the public school, and who has a son a year younger than Matt. They play together every evening until we drag them in for baths and bedtime. She has graciously offered to pick Matt up from the bus so that he can still go to the Christian school and he won't end up on the Missing Child poster.

Thank goodness!

On that note, time for me to sign off and simmer down.