Thursday, June 4, 2009

serious stuff

I can tell that blogging is officially starting to get into my blood. Larry and I went to the library tonight (sans kids...see previous baseball post!) and I got the newest novels by Maeve Binchy and Jodi Picoult, both of which are sitting on my beside table. My laptop is sitting atop the pillow that almost always cradles a book. It takes something pretty powerful to keep me from cracking into that Picoult book immediately.

This may only be interesting to family and friends - I know that I risk boring any visitors with this post. But blogs are a little self-indulgent sometimes, right? Kind of a journal at times.
So, I guess it's not always about the diva. Olivia took a test today that would allow her early entrance into first grade...serious stuff. She misses the cutoff date by 11 days, and all of her neighborhood friends are going into first grade. No kindergarteners. We enrolled her in kindergarten at a charter school last year whose cutoff date was a month later, in hopes that she could transfer to her home school with her brothers and all her friends for first grade. But plans were thwarted when they changed the policy and said she had to test into first. And no, teacher recommendations and report card readiness don't cut it - one 15 minute computer test with someone who has never met her will determine her fate. I won't even get going on that tangent...

The problem was, she LOVES summer camp, and today was a big field trip to the pool. And not just any pool - these days, all of the junior and high schools are building mini water parks. This fact was not lost on her, and she was devastated - in the way only a mini diva can be - that she was going to miss that field trip. I was truly concerned that it was going to interfere with her testing in one way or another.
So, I picked her up a couple of hours early, and did my best to divert her attention. Namely, by taking her out to lunch and shopping for shoes. Did it ever work. It happened kind of by accident - we were just going to get new ballet shoes for her summer dance class, and it was BOGO at Payless. So we found a pair of hip Airwalks with pink shoelaces. Well - that's all she needed. We got some Hello Kitty socks, and she was ready to rock that test. Maybe it is about the diva after all.

She was in and out in like 15 minutes. She told me she did "great" as she strutted to the car in her new shoes. It kind of hit me at that point - this is really all so out of my control, and I'm going to have to just let things happen as they will. If she doesn't test in, she does kindergarten again, and she'll love every second of kicking butt in class. What can I do? We are supposed to find out in a week. I can't figure out who will be more disappointed if it doesn't happen - her or me. Probably me. Which is why I need to let it go.

4 comments:

Robyn said...

It is driving OCD me CRAZY that the spacing between paragraphs is not working in several of my posts. It sends me over the edge.

Anonymous said...

Mellow out babe. It's about the writing not the layout. People aren't loginng in and saying,
"Man the content is fantastic but the layout sure does blow!! I ain't coming back!"

I love reading this. Keep it up.

L

Anonymous said...

Hey Robyn! I read your blog and you will be happy to know this is my first ever blog comment! Someday, when I get enough guts and get enough time, I may even start my own...
Anyway,here's my two cents on the Kindegarten thing from the mother of a child that MADE the cut off by a mere five days. I debated with myself back then whether to let him go or not: academically ready? Check, Socially ready? Check, Ready to get away from mom and be with all the other kids? Double check. I let him go early, but over the years, I've had my doubts on whether we did the right thing. These resurfaced recently, in a big way, when I realized he will start junior high next year at the tender age of 11, high school at 13 and college (God willing) at 17. Add to that his small size and the fact he is my baby and I'm in full panic mode. Moral of this long, rambling story? No matter what happens there will always be that worry, that second guessing, the regret. But really isn't that what being a parent is all about? And the whole ability to let go - well, it left my being the second they pulled a 6 lb, 2 oz screaming mass of humanity (AKA Tyler) from my womb over 15 years ago! Good luck!

PS A 15 minute computer test? Wow!

Tammy

Jennie Lee said...

Her first lesson that new shoes never hurt a situation and almost always help!