First Day of School 2010

School started today. The summer flew by. I didn't get anything done and I didn't get to go anywhere. That depresses me. I know we're paying some things off, but everyone needs a vacation. I keep hoping next year will be better, but I doubt it. The bills are too high, plus we're going to need a new car soon.

My three girls looked beautiful going off to school this morning. Kiki is getting so big, I think she'll be taller than me within a month. She does pretty good with the make-up we allow her to wear. Boo even wore her glasses to school, I was surprised. JJ loves the tutu type outfits and of course wore one of those for her first day.

There was a lot of paperwork for me to fill out. Boo's teacher wants me to turn in this green sheet. Both her and JJ got it, but I didn't like it... LOL! It seemed too personal and it wasn't any of their business. I think it's a questionnaire to get services (like free lunch or free tutoring), but it asks questions about your home. The school knows where I live, why do I need to fill this out. I'm not applying for the services. The funny thing is if I did live in a tent or abandoned building, do they really think I'd tell them that? They'd call child protective and have the kids taken away. Seriously! I live in a nice house that is half a mile from the school. I guess if she continues to ask for the questionnaire, I'll put a big N/A on it and send it in.

Proud

Today, I am very proud of Kiki. She chose to play the viola in orchestra when she entered 6th grade. She started off a beginner, and went on to intermediate for 7th grade. A few weeks ago, she tried out for chamber, the highest level of orchestra in middle school... and today she found out she got in!!

It was awesome to see the excitement on her face. She was so happy, so proud of herself! And we, too, are so proud of her! I told her I'd have to share it with the world, so here I am, sharing it with the world :)

Stickers & Privacy

Moving to this school district has been wonderful for many reasons. I have been very happy with the way my children are learning here. There is, however, one thing I have a problem with...

Stickers. Sounds ridiculous right?

The schools let parents put money into their children's lunch accounts. The children are given a number and when they buy lunch, they can check out using that number. It pulls money out of the account. When it gets down to a certain number, the emails start coming: Replenish your child's lunch account. And then when it gets down a little further, the stickers come home... ON MY CHILD!

The lunch people put a big red sticker on my child's shirt that basically screams out "HEY! You need to send in more money!! You're broke!" How is that protecting our privacy? And how rude is that? Let's stick big, red stickers on the kids who need to send in more money! Let the whole school know.

There are other stickers too, thankfully, my children don't need to wear them much. These consist of different transportation issues... being picked up early, transportation change like going on a different bus. Again, there's a privacy issue here. Not only that, but a safety issue. I assume that everyone who works in the school has been cleared to be there, but you never know. I certainly do not want everyone in the school knowing that my child is walking home that day or taking a different bus.

Those are the ones I have issues with. There is another one that says "Don't forget money for the school store tomorrow".

Not only are these stickers a violation of our privacy, but if put on certain decorations (on t-shirts), they will damage them.

I don't see how they can get away with this...

I had to edit this to add a thought. Could you imagine going to the grocery store and using your debit card, only to have the cashier place a sticker on your shirt because your account was getting low?