Now, be a good tin soldier and, uh ...

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Wow.

It's been awhile, huh?

Sorry 'bout that. Been a bit ... overwrought of late. So rather than piss and moan, or be all sad and whiny, I've been laying low. The fact that I've not had a full day off from being a mom in over two weeks hasn't helped me find my Zen or the time to blog, either. Throw in a sick kiddo and a sick mommy, and, well .. I'm moaning, aren't I?

The girls seem to be adjusting well to their new school. I'm not in love with it, but if they're happy, I can deal with my issues. I'm just not a big believer in / fan of Montessori. They say it's all child-centric, but to me, it seems like a program to create little automatons. Maybe it's my own gut reaction to regimented activity. And maybe *regimented* isn't fully accurate or fair, either. But seeing my little almost-two-year-old queued up, and having to get and carry her own stuff. I just don't like it.

It probably makes me insane that I don't like her being trained to be self-sufficient, doesn't it? Actually, Miss O is pretty well-suited to the environment, it's just kind of creepy to me. And like I said, she seems to be doing fine.

Bean seems to be doing well, too.

Note the use of "seems"? Yeah, I did too. I can only say "seems" because the communication from the school/teachers leaves a lot to be desired in my book. In the morning, you kind of do a rolling dropoff, where you pull up, unload, and the kiddos go in. In the afternoon, it's the same thing, but in reverse: pull up, they tell your kids you're there (the kids are sitting on the floor just inside the door) and they come out to you.

There are no daily report sheets, no talks with the teacher (oops, sorry, "guide"). The director and assistant can find time to nag me about the girls' paperwork not being complete - and I don't think they realize that the stress I've been under makes nagging me a real risk - but there's no talk about how the girls are doing.

Instead, I get to ask the girls how their days were. Bean responds with "I don't know" or "I don't want to tell you" and Miss O just says "no" to everything while shaking her head and wearing a sh*t-eating grin. It's less useful than you'd think. Really.

Mommy: Bean, did you have a good day?
Bean: Yeah.
Mommy: What did you do today?
Bean: I don't remember.
Mommy: Did you play with any friends?
Bean: Can we go to the park?
Mommy: Sure. But I want to know about your day ...
Bean: Squirrel!

Mommy: Miss O, did you have fun today?
Miss O: No.
Mommy: Did you play outside today?
Miss O: No.
Mommy: Did you like your lunch?
Miss O: No.
Mommy: Squirrel!

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