Excited [and Overwhelmed]

The boys are excited, Momma's overwhelmed.  I'm never one to be overly emotional when the kids return to school.  Well, not in a sad way.  I have been known to hop and skip my way down the hall as I wave goodbye on their first day.  This year, however, is feeling just a little bit different!

Our first stop last night was at Oliver's school.  We had discovered ahead of time that he was not going to get his "teacher of choice" and we would have to help soothe the child.  After discovering he had two friends in class, it wasn't as difficult as we imagined.  He did walk over to the desired teacher's class and longingly look to see who the lucky ones were that took his seat.  It's going to be a great year for Oliver.  I just know it.  Turning double-digits in November and on his own at school.

Next stop, middle school.  When did my boy get old enough to attend middle school?!  Here's where the overwhelmed comes in...  and again, I'm talking about me, the Momma!  Thankfully this "meet the teacher" night was just for the sixth grade.  With all of the anxious kids and parents walking around, it was a little crowded.  The kids were handed their schedule as we walked into the door and told to find their homeroom (advisory) and meet some teachers.  We didn't have any trouble locating Henry's advisory class.  JP also showed him how to work the locker.  His combination has only two numbers.  Who ever heard of a locker combo with only two numbers?  Success and easy memorization!  From there we wandered the halls looking for teachers and friends to compare schedules.  Henry discovered he's in three classes with one friend and none with another.  I took a little longer glance at his day and cannot believe he's in so many classes!  They've even tossed Spanish in there for good measure - a class I was hoping to put off for Henry until 8th grade due to all of the pre-AP classes he's in.

So, his day looks a little like this:

1. Pre-AP English
2. Pre-AP Social
3. Spanish
4. Pre-Algebra (broken up by lunch)
5. Pre-AP Physical Science
6. Band / Choir / Gym on a rotating day schedule
7. FACS

Wow.  Does that not look a little intimidating?   Seven classes with potential homework.  I best get my anxiety in order soon (and not show him) to help him off to a great start too!  We were also pleasantly surprised when we discovered that Henry's Pre-Algebra teacher was one we were familiar with...  Alek had him as a 4th grade teacher @ Neill.  Good ol' Mr. J (and yes, we talked about aging) was in our lives 8 years ago.  I am very thankful that he will be Henry's math teacher...  one of the areas Henry loves, but struggles just a bit.

So, that's it.  Teachers have been met, classrooms found and I'm the one who had trouble sleeping last night.  One more weekend ahead of us and we're back to "school normal" come Tuesday!