School Daze

I wanted to update everyone on the first weeks of school.
JOSEPH.... the boy who started school with the most tears is now fearless in the mornings. We walk into the gym, wait for the teachers to come & get them, me standing at the back of the gym waiting.... waiting for him to point to the exit door and wave me goodbye. Most mornings he even forgets to give me my exit. He just walks away with his friends without any worries. He takes his lunch everyday, a peanutbutter sandwich everyday. He won't eat the school lunch because it comes with fruits & vegetables. Alison has told him he doesn't have to eat it, but that is not good enough. He is my picky eater, atleast he is finally eating peanutbutter.
ALISON.... started kindergarten already reading at a first grade level. We informed her teacher of this prior to school starting. 3 weeks into school I asked her if she was reading in class. She said "no, my teacher says to have my mom & dad read to me at home." I was starting to get frustrated with her lack of progress. Then one weekend while I was at work she started making books. Her stories were filled with complete sentences. I asked her if daddy helped her write the stories. She responded with an emphatic NO! Thus began the communication with her teacher. We have since realized that she has been holding back in class. I met with her teacher today and she had great things to say about her progress. She is progressing like a first grader, not a kindergartener. What a stinker! Atleast her teacher and I are on the same page now.
IVY.... oh Ivy. She has always been my shy, sensitive girl... until those first days of school. She grew up so much in that first week. Then the fire drill happened. According to her teacher, Ivy was pushing her out the door. She cried and was terrified. Then the accidents started. I was noticing that she was having wet pants several days of the week. It took several conversations with Ivy to finally figure out that she wasn't going to the bathroom at school. Several more conversations to figure out that there is a fire alarm in the bathroom and she is terrified that it will go off while she is in there.. by herself. I feel so terrible for her, as did her teacher when I told her of the problem. The day I talked to her teacher she went to the bathroom, with her teacher waiting outside. After school she was so proud to tell me that she had done that. And with the biggest smile said "my teacher wasn't even mad when I asked her if I could go to the bathroom." Yep, still shy & sensitive.
Today I recieved my first call from the school nurse. Ivy was in the nurses office with an earache. I was caught off guard and couldn't think of what to do. Sometimes the nursing brain just doesn't kick in fast enough. After a few seconds of thought... if felt like minutes... I decided to take her to the Dr's office. Especially since she just finished a course of antibiotics for a long lasting cough. I get to the nurses office and find her laying on the bed looking pathetic, all I wanted to do was hold her & cry. I stayed strong and off we went to the pediatricins. Walking to the van she asked if she could go to Runza & play in the playground. Silly girl. I am glad we went to the Dr's because she has ear infections in both ears. The appt. ends with stickers & suckers and Ivy wanting to go back to school. What a trooper. I hope all our nurse calls go that smoothly.