What a day?

Technically the first day of school is August 11. Really August 12 is the real first day of school, but the 11th is the day that you have to register for school. Fill out the paper work, find the classroom, get the school supply list. Or they will lose out on perfect attendance if they didn't go.

Ok, so I had to be with Eric at the middle school at 8, started at 8:15, ended at 9:30. PJ had to be at school anywhere from 8 -10. How the heck am I supposed to pull this off? Well, Chuck took PJ to work with him, was gonna have him at school by 9 and then I planned on picking him up. Things chance, don't ya know! I got to school with Eric, waited for him to get his schedule, and then met the teacher and saw his classroom, asked questions and went on our way. BUT there was a hold up. I am not getting up at 6:30 this year to get him to school this year. I have 3 buses that drive right by the house and he can get on the bus. Ok, I had to go to the office and get the to the bus barn, call them, like every other parent in town, didn't get through for a while, and then figure out why he isn't on a bus yet.

I get to Pizza Hut and finally get through to someone at the bus barn. I am on the phone with them, my phone starts beeping. Out comes Chuck, my store is calling me, I told Chuck to go in the store and call them back. Turns out the other driver doesn't have a car and I am needed in the store to deliver. Messed up my plans on going to Sam's today. Ok, I agree to go to work, and now to deal with the school bus crap. I can't get him on a bus until Thursday morning. Meaning I have to get up and take him to school tomorrow and Wednesday. Ok, I guess that isn't too bad. I was also told that the supervisor will call me back later today and discuss the problem with me.

I go to work, it is dead, but there was going to be a big roll out this afternoon on the mac and cheese stuff coming out. That store was training the area on how to make it. Well, I figure I might as well scrub and clean the things that haven't been cleaned in a long time. I did 7 runs, but during the dead time, I cleaned.

Ok, well on one of my runs, I figured I would call the bus barn again and find out what the hell was going on.

I get on the phone with the woman I spoke with earlier, she in turn gives me to her supervisor. I get things like we don't have him on a schedule from last year, oh bull shit, I know better, I have the bus schedule online and he is on there. But she told me that she doesn't get paid enough to deal with people like me. She had to deal with 100 other parents today, yeah, go there with me. "I don't care who you had to deal with, this is my child and YOU WILL make a way for him to get on the bus. Now, what I need to know is this, will I have to pick him up tomorrow or will the bus drop him off?" Turns out, the driver of the bus that Eric is supposed to be on is not the bus that was dropping him off in the afternoons and they have no record of him riding the bus at all, comforting, isn't it? So, now I have to get up Tuesday and Wednesday and take him in and then pick him up. Hell, I don't know if he will even get on a schedule. They expected me to have him walk 3 blocks down the road to catch the bus. We live on a very busy road, and there is no way that I will let him walk that far in the mornings to catch a stupid bus that drives right by the house anyway.

Ok, now for PJ. I get him school, run into the secretary and she asks if I am now a stay at home mom. Of course I had to explain to her that I was fired and gave the reasons why. She wasn't happy to hear that, because she and I have known each other for years and she knows me well. Then to the classroom. I meet the teacher, and this year they only have two 4th grade teachers. You see, last year, they had four 2nd grade classrooms, one of the teachers left. So instead of taking her class and dividing it up into the other three classes, they took the 4th grade teacher and took her class and divided it up into the other two remaining classes. Ok, not a big deal, not my kid. I figured they would hire someone over the summer to fill that spot. NOPE, guess what, there are 31 students in PJ's class this year. Yes, you read that right, 31 students in one classroom. Now, this is messing with my kid and I am not happy about this at all.

The schools in this area are seriously overcrowded. I know of one school that has 6 Kindergarten classes with 35 students each, not good. The other city schools are in the same mess. Build another school, it won't affect me in the long run, but for the sake of the children that are coming up in the system, build another school. The county schools are in the same situation, and it is hurting our children. Thankfully Eric's homeroom class has only about 18 students in it. He said that they run anywhere from 15 - 27 students in his other classes.

I am not happy today. I had to work on my day off, but if I want to prove myself, I will do what I have to do. If I want them to see that I am willing to work, then I have to go in. I found out about PJ's class, Eric's bus mess, Chuck telling me that he doesn't really want to hear about the bus mess, yeah, well, you don't get your ass out of bed to get him to school, and you won't be the one after school to sit in that traffic and wait on him, along with about 300 parents.

You know, tomorrow is always another day, and hopefully it will be better than it was today.