The First Day of School and Other Tails from the Zoo

Today is the most exciting, wonderful, happiest day of the year for moms like me. It is the day when the toys stay picked up for longer than an hour. The house gets quiet and I get more me time. Yes it is finally here. Today is the first day of school at the Talbert Zoo. Summer has come to an end and it is time for a different kind of crazy. This year I decided to put together a daily schedule for myself. In the past I learned the hard way, that there just is not enough hours in a day to fit in everything that I must and want to get done. But, maybe, just maybe if I get up at 4:45 am every single day and plan out everything that I want to do, it will get done and the zoo will seem less crazy for this tired, old mom. We’ll see how long this new schedule will last. I’ll keep all of you updated.

Last night we took Kitty, Parrot and Monkey to the open house at their new school. This is the first year for the state-of-the-art elementary school. And the building is beautiful. The school is divided into two wings, a secondary wing for grades 3-5 and a primary wing for grades pre-k through 2. All three of my kids are in the primary wing. They also will finally be eating lunch in a cafeteria instead of their classrooms. The floor in the gym is unlike any other gym floor I have ever seen. Apparently, they used the lasted technology in gymnasium flooring, but I don’t really know how to describe it. It’s gorgeous.

I met all three kids teachers and they seem very nice. I am confident that they will have a great school year filled with fun and of course, learning. I was surprised when I met Parrot’s teacher because right away she knew who he was. She taught at the kids old school and he must have been a famous student at the old school. His teacher knew that he was bright and seemed excited to have him in her class.

Monkey’s preschool teacher handed out balloons. I don’t think this was a very bright idea because she didn’t have very many, and Parrot’s balloon got stuck up in the ceiling in one of the classrooms. Chris attempted to get it down with a ladder and yard stick. The string was too short so it is still stuck up there. Parrot did not throw a fit or complain about losing his balloon which made me a very proud mom.

In a few minutes it will be time for me to wake all the zoo animals for their first day of school so I better wrap this up. I can not believe that I have a pre-schooler, first grader, second grader and eleventh grader this year. Time sure flies! I will post photos of the first day on our facebook page and let you all know how it went tomorrow.