PLEASE TAKE AN ACTIVE ROLE!

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      So, K is now a first grader. It saddens me to know how fast he is growing now that he has a school calendar to chart the days as they pass right by. This year he started the school year off from his dads house, however, I still had just as much anxiety as if he were here. We took him to school the first day of school so that I could take pictures and add them to his photo album. You could tell that he was nervous and unsure of whether or not he actually wanted to be there. With a playground full of children that he didn't recognize he decided he wanted to hang out with me and Jordan before the bell rang to call them all to class. Then, the moment I had be dreading, the ringing of the bell. I walked with Kyden to find his teacher and showed him where he was supposed to line up in order to go inside. I didn't want to be too much of a pest so once he was in line I kissed him goodbye and told him to have an amazing first day. I had to quickly turn around because I knew the tears were coming. Jordan and I were walking back to the car and all I could do was let the single tear run down my face. It saddened me to know how quickly he was growing. I wanted my little baby back. The one that needed me and begged for me to rock him to sleep every night, the one that only found comfort in my touch. Now he was off in school learning and achieving so that he could make me the proud mother I have always been. I called him at his dads house to check and find out how his first day went. He was in no mood to talk. He gave me one word answers and when I asked him if he wanted me to come have lunch with him he quickly brushed me off. I reminded him to get a good night sleep and told him I would speak with him tomorrow. He told his aunt that night that he was just really tired from the long day of school. Mind you, he attended Kindergarten at the same school but it was only halfday (a little less than 3 hours) and he now attends full day (7 hours).

The next morning I called to ask him if he would like me to come have lunch with him or if he would rather me wait and with excitement in his voice he told me that he wanted me to come there that day. So I called the office and they told me the time he was set to have lunch. I arrive 5 minutes early, sign in and take a visitor sticker. The woman at the front desk speaks to me like I'm a child and tells me that I "still have 4 minutes and I need to take a seat" *I know I'm a young mother but I do not need to be treated like a child* So I wait the 4 minutes and head to the cafeteria. I find Kyden and he is just starting to pull out his lunch that he brought to school with him. I catch a glance at the clock and it reads 11:03. So I sit down and try to make conversation with him about what he has learned thus far. He is very short and tells me that they have started talking about math. K is always very talkative. We make it a point to always sit down together at dinner time and talk about what we have done that day so for him to not talk is a little concerning to me. There are teachers yelling at students and some crazy lady blowing a whistle to gain the attention of a room full of eager children. I don't know about you but I did not put my child through obedience school like a dog so when I send him out the door for an education I do not want others teaching him as such. K is still not very talkative but I try to reason it due to the fact of it's still a new school year. Teachers are now releasing the children out to recess to go play. Releasing is the wrong word, it was more of a push or a shove in the non physical way. I look over to K and he hasn't hardly finished his lunch and is frantically putting his stuff back into his lunch box. I told him "If you are not finished eating you need to stay here and continue eating, you have a full day ahead of you still." There is a little girl on my other side who over hears me and pulls her food back out of her lunch sack and continues to eat. I take notice of what a great lunch someone had packed for her. Gold fish, yogurt, a sandwich and some grapes.K insists that he is done eating after finishing a few more bites and he is ready to go outside. So we pack up his lunch and step away from the table. As soon as we do a teacher comes over to the little girl and tells her "You have two minutes to pack up and go outside". We are now the last table to leave the cafeteria and as I glance at my watch I realize that it is only 11:18. 15 minutes!! THAT'S all the time these first graders are given to eat, 15 MINUTES?!

     First of all, I do not even eat in 15 minutes so I wouldn't expect that from a 6 year old. K and I have a 20-30 minutes drive in the morning. Therefore, he has 4 hours from breakfast until lunch and 5 hours from lunch until school is out. Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to give a bunch of 6 year olds 15 minutes to eat?! This food is what fuels their body's and mind's. Then teachers are mad when they have a short attention span.  

    I went to the Peoria School District and spoke to one of the people in administration. He told me that all of my concerns were very valid and definitely needed to be brought to the attention of the school. So the Vice Principal gave me some half assed follow up phone call and K came home today telling me that he didn't have enough time to eat because it was time to go outside. My biggest concern in this whole ordeal is about children like that little girl that sat to my right that day. When she goes home with a 1/4 eaten lunch and an empty stomach her parents are going to think that she is just being picky and they may stop sending her with such a great lunch since she appears to be wasting it. What if by the time this unacceptable situation gets fixed they are sending her smaller lunches. She would then have the appropriate time to eat but nothing to fill her stomach for the long day ahead of her.

    My whole point of this blog is to encourage you to play an active role. People cannot just expect everything to be okay, things like this need to be acknowledged and the only way for that to happen is for us, as parents, to follow up and check in on those who we trust our children to.