What were you doing at 4:45am this morning? I'm guessing most of you were still sleeping. ..not me, I was registering Henry for Kindergarten. Yes, at 4:45am, I walked up to the elementary school and sat in line with a 100 of my newest friends.
When I arrived, I wasn't too far from the front. The first person got there at 3:30! They don't even open the doors until after 8 and I thought waiting 3 hours was bad. I brought a chair and a blanket with me, along with US Weekly and got cozy. Most of the time you just talked to the parents around you and waited.
Now, most of you are thinking, it's a public school of course you get in...nope. We live in a community where we have way more kids then spots. There are only a 150 spots and after that, you would get bussed to a school further away. This is why so many parents wait because who wants a 5 year old to be bussed across town at 6:45am.
We finally hit 7:30 and you get to see life around the school. You watch the teachers arrive and the parents forming the "pony express" (car pool line - we are the Creighton Colts..get it) and hope you friend sees you to bring you coffee and she did! It was much needed to make that last hour.
Finally the doors open and you file in. I ended up being #16. After you get your number, you get cozy on the bleachers and wait to be called.
Of course the PTA is there selling t shirts and of course I bought Henry one. Hey, it felt like I was waiting for concert tickets so a t shirt was a must to show my dedication.
The rest was pretty quick. There were stations and they call your number. You better make sure you have everything because at this point you don't want to hold anybody up. First station photo copies, 2nd station. .nurse and then the golden registration ticket table. Review paperwork, make sure you signed everything and bam...four hours of waiting is over and you feel accomplished.
I didn't even have time to be emotional about my baby going to Kindergarten. Maybe when we take him over the summer for evaluation, I will be but right now, I'm going nap.
