A new adventure....second grade

Yep, it's true.
Olivia is officially a second grader.
Where does the time go?
I swear she was just graduating from preschool.
And now, second grade?
With a new wardrobe filled with clothes from Justice?

Hold me.

Tonight was open house. Which, at our school, means it was really open house-get your school picture taken-put money on your lunch card-schedule your parent/teacher conference for November-drop off art supplies-find your locker-find your classroom-meet your teacher night.

Whew.
I'm tired just from typing that.

I will give the school credit for ONE thing. This year was less chaotic than last year. A little less. Just a little.

And, the whole "meet the teacher" was easy this year because Olivia's teacher is the same woman who was her kindergarten teacher. I'm not sure who is happier about that - me or Olivia. Of course, Mrs. D seemed rather pleased about it too.

I admit, I got a little choked up as we "toured" the classroom. It was somehow more "grown up" than her first grade class last year. Everything seemed "older" and more mature (well, as mature as you can get in the second grade). And then, there were textbooks on the desks! Four to be exact.

TEXTBOOKS.

Hard cover textbooks for reading, math and social studies. Holy crap. (Oh and yeah...these books cost me $40. I found that out earlier this evening as I was filling out paperwork. Really? $40 for books in second grade? That's crazy talk.)

And on each desk next to the textbooks was a brown paper bag with this message attached: "Peek inside and you will see ten items meant for you and me. Reminders as we learn and play our class is special everyday!"

OK, not the greatest poem ever composed, but this list was rather inspirational....*

1. A pencil to help you record your knowledge.
2. Smarties to remind you how smart you are.
3. An eraser to remind you it's OK to make mistakes. We all do!
4. A rubber band to remind you to be flexible with each other.
5. A fuzzy stem to remind you to work together to overcome any bumps along the way.
6. A jingle bell to remind you to listen to each other.
7. A wiggle eye to remind you to keep an eye out for each other.
8. A gemstone to show to let the truth shine in your words and actions.
9. A cotton ball to remind you to treat each other gently, with kindness and respect.
10. A penny to remind you of your great worth.

I couldn't even read the whole list to Olivia without getting all teary eyed. I had to stop at number two on the list..and read the rest at home (I didn't really want the other parents to think I was losing it!).

That has got to be the best list of items.
What wonderful lessons to give these kids as they start this adventure called second grade.

Happy school year!

*(Personally, I think every grown up should get a bag like that to keep at their desks as a gentle reminder of how important they are. But that's just me.)