Meeting the School Marm

AS YOU RECALL, yesterday afternoon was the Go Get Cat and Take Her To School trip. And what a long strange trip it was.

Got out to T'ville a little bit early, so I stopped at Sonic and got some greasy food and ate it, then scooted over to the old elementary school (where they have the summer care program) and picked up Cat. Had to wait while she went to the restroom, which took forever because she had to talk to herself and to the paper towels, but it was still only a little past 2:00 and we didn't have to be at the new school until 2:30. It's only about three miles from the old school, right up old Highway 11. (Highway 11 is a bit of a misnomer--for most of its length from Trussville on to the east it's just a little two-lane country road.)

Finally she got finished saying goodbye to the sink and the potty and we were on our way. Turned onto the highway and right where it turns back into two lanes, we stopped dead. Bumper to bumper. It seems some incredibly bright person decided that not just first graders, but every single child in elementary school was to meet his or her teacher yesterday, and every single one of them in the 2:30 to 3:00 time span. Eeeeeejits.

So, we sat in traffic from 2:10 to 4:00.

2.7 miles--14,256 feet--of cars. Cars full of small, bored children.

You know, if you say that each car is about 22 feet long, and add a car's length of space between each, that comes out to about 324 cars in line, which is probably about right.

2.7 miles in 1 hour, 50 minutes. About 1 1/2 miles per hour--I could have walked it faster than driven it. Although I don't think Tiny Terror could have managed it. I just sure am glad I made her go to the restroom before we left.

We watched the train go by. We discussed traffic--"Why don't you just go on that side?!" "Daddy would get a ticket, sugar." We looked at the horsey. There's an old pale swaybacked one that lives in a stable right on the side of the road. No, I don't know its name. No, I don't know its mommy. No, I don't think we can stop and ride it. Yes, it's eating grass. No, I don't know where its friend is. We looked at the hot rod shop. "Look Cat, it's a '56 Bel Air!" "Oooh, it's RED, Daddy!" We talked about her new teacher, and I read her the letter she got when she registered. "She likes to play the pinonno, Daddy?" "'S'what it says here..." "I like the pinanner, too!"

Finally got to the building, and then the next test was finding a parking space--obviously, an elementary school doesn't need a whole lot of parking. Unless you are going to insist every child in school bring his car. In which case, you find out that part of the delay was trying to find a slot for 400 Suburbans and Navigators and Expeditions. We wound up parking on the furthest paved portion of the site from the entrance. Then did the same slog we did last Friday during registration. Sure would have been nice if some of the doors had been unlocked.

Got inside, and it was like walking into an asylum. We managed to find her room after a bit and met her teacher, who seems like a very sweet young lady. Cat stowed away her supplies and then I took her to the potty again, and then it was time to go see her kindergarten teacher and show off her new short hair and pierced ears, and then to tour the library and show the librarian her new short hair and pierced ears.

And then blessedly time to go home. Well, not home exactly--had to go get Jonathan and Rebecca from daycare, THEN go home. Where I found that Reba was going to be home late, so as Rebecca got her junk ready for soccer practice, I donned my chef's apron and prepared a lovely meal of chicken fingers, okra, green beans, and some sort of prepackaged Lipton rice mix stuff. Reba home, then we ate, then it was up and back to the soccer park for me and Bec, where I sat and got sucked dry by mosquitoes, then home where I stayed up much too late playing on the computer.

And now? Well, I'm leaving early AGAIN, this time to take Boy and Middle Girl to the new school. Seems they want the students to show up between 2:30 and 3:00 to meet their teachers. I might leave about five minutes or so earlier than normal, just in case there might be some traffic. (Actually, Rebecca has a safety-patroller meeting at 1:30, so we're all going to get up there real early. Probably still won't get a good parking space, though.) AND, Ashley has her meet-and-greet the exact same time, so Reba is leaving early to go take HER to the middle school.

I'm just glad I don't feel the least bit tired!
posted by Terry at 11:42:00 AM