First Day of School

The first thing Michael said to me this morning is, "I don't feel so good." He had been preparing me all weekend for this feeble attempt to dodge the first day of school by warning me that he wouldn't feel good on Monday. I asked how he knew this and he said he just knew. Being thusly prepared, I stood at the ready with a stack of chocolate chip pancakes in one hand and a pile of bacon in the other. He guessed he didn't feel so bad that he couldn't eat a few pancakes and there was no reason to let the bacon go bad soooo... Before long, he was dressed and ready to go. I drove him to school on this first day of first grade along with the thousands of other off-base parents who refused to relinquish their cherubs to the bus system just yet. Caleb, however, decided to take this opportunity to establish himself as the Lord of the Bus, so we dropped him off at the bus stop. He was happy to get Algebra and the homeroom he wanted so we're hoping for great things from him.

I stayed with Michael in his classroom for a few minutes because he said he was worried that Frau Trefftz, his new German Immersion teacher, would speak only German and that he wouldn't understand anything. Well, he was right. She spoke not a single word of English to the kids and rather than translate for them, she demonstrated the things they didn't understand. She has a reputation for being strict and since the German language sounds very strict to begin with, the kids were on their very best behavior for her. This might be their second year of German Immersion, but we've obviously come to the big dance. They must greet her every morning with a firm handshake and a "Guten Morgen, Frau Trefftz" One girl slapped her hand instead of shaking it - whoah, boy, you should have seen the Frau's reaction! "Nein! Nein! Nein!" While she corrected the errant child, I surreptitiously slid my phone up to my ear so as to not irritate her any further and as stealthily as possible called Jerry. I used my panic whisper and told him that he'd better hightail it over to the school for lunch today to make sure Michael doesn't go AWOL.

I hope your back to school time is going smoothly and that you're able to get your house in order after the crazy summer. Speaking of which, I have some laundry calling my name. Enjoy the silence!