Registration....

...is complete and successful for all school aged Fontenot children. This task was undertaken on Tuesday and I'm happy to report that this year we brought with us the correct and appropriate proofs of residence. We'd had some trouble with that last year, as apparently a disconnection notice couldn't count. Who knew??? And since most of our utility bills are indeed disconnection notices, as I write the check at the last possible second, finding two sources of current utility bills that were not facing the dreaded disconnection always proves a bit difficult. But not this time! Nope, this time I proudly collected my current bills and proceeded to the elementary school. Things were going swimmingly, until I was politely informed that I would have to first make a stop in the office, as I had unpaid "Fees". Shocking, I know. As it turns out, Brandon and Jackson neglected to return their library books, to the tune of $66. Jackson swears up and down that he indeed did return the books, but I rather doubt the validity of his memory.
So check written, we proceeded to the cafeteria for registration I informed them that I was there to register Jackson and Brandon. After a quick check of her forms, Ms. M let me know that she didn't have Brandon's form and that I should check back in the office. I did that and was surprised that they didn't have it either. Back to the cafeteria. Still not there. I stood there for a moment, confusion confounding my brain. Then I remembered. Oh yeah...Brandon is in middle school this year. I wasn't here to register him. I was there to register Brandon and Jackson. Oops. A little embarrassed, I explained to Ms. M that I'd forgotten that Brandon was moving on to the middle school. She smiled politely...I wonder if that school dreads seeing parents like me...ones that never have their shit together. In fact, I know they must, because Albert is a teacher and so I hear that side of things too.
Confusion aside, I moved on to registering Jackson and Brice...you know, the correct kids who are actually attending elementary school this year. Except now, Brice's paperwork was missing from the stack, prompting another trip back across the hall to the office. They didn't have it either. Back to the cafeteria. Ms. M had found it. No need to worry. I was planning on going to Scott Elementary to enroll the twins in pre-K but was informed by Mr. B, the school principal that I could enroll them right there at Mascoutah. Alexandria's registration was simple. Isaiah's paperwork was missing. You guessed it, back to the office. They didn't have either. And this time, no one could find it in another stack. It just wasn't there. Probably because I neglected to fill some form out at the end of last year. Who knows. Anyway, I had to start over with him and re-fill out all the forms. It just took a few minutes really and soon we were on our way...four of our children happily registered. Jackson and Brice were elated that they now knew who their teachers will be. We'd been hoping that Brice would get Ms. Lintker...Brandon had been in her class and we seriously adore her. Instead, he has Ms. Evans. I have heard wonderful things about her as well, so I'm sure Brice will be just as happy. Brice is a bit...spirited, so Ms. Evans will surely come to rue the day Brice was randomized to her class room. In fact,that might be a whole 'nother post. An open letter to Brice's teacher. It was really nice to see some of the staff at the elementary school. We've lived here long enough that we've developed nice relationships with them..it's one of the reasons we decided to stay in Mascoutah. I know our kids are well cared for at that school and that the staff really cares about their wellbeing as well as their education. We saw Ms. L, who is the vice-principal and is super cool. Our kids really like her and so do we! We saw Ms. F, who happily, will be Jackson's teacher this year! As I mentioned, we saw Ms. M who we knew outside of school because Manny and Drew are friends with her children, so we've attended plenty of basketball games together. Have I ever mentioned how awesome our small little rural community is? Anyway, I digress...
I drove home quickly and dropped off the elementary school kids and picked up Brandon to register him at the middle school. Manny came with us. No hiccups to report there....we moved through the lines smoothly. We bought a team tee-shirt for Brandon. He likes stuff like that. While waiting in line for him to get his picture taken for school I.D.'s, Manny attempted to mark Brandon's forehead with a green dot from a highlighter...and a few minutes later, attempted to write the word "dork" across the top of his forehead with the same green highlighter. Can you imagine?
It turns out Brandon is on the same team this year as Manny was in 6th grade, and as Drew was in 6th grade...which is kind of exciting and fun. I hope that the Tamarin teachers realize that Brandon might not quite be like Manny. Boy are they in for a shock. Maybe that should be another open letter.
After bringing Brandon home, it was time for high school registration for Drew and Manny at the brand new high school. It was my first time seeing the inside of the school (other than the weight room) and I was quite impressed! Tax money well spent. I'm being totally serious, not sarcastic. It's beautiful and way cooler than anything I went to school in. Registration there went well also, except it was so spread out that I somehow forgot a couple of the stations we were supposed to stop at...maybe because I didn't look at the checklist given to me at the beginning. Anyway, the boys are registered. That's what counts. And they got their student ID's made...which are both super handsome by the way.
So, all Fontenot kids are registered. All are excited about the new school year. And Brandon is incessantly on me about shopping for school supplies. No, I haven't done it yet. Yes, I know time's a'wastin. Yes, I know that I need to hurry. No, I probably won't do it this week. Maybe next. But yes, it will be done before the first day of school.
I can breathe a big sigh of relief now that school registration is checked off my list. Now, onto scheduling physicals for all the kids that need them this year so they don't get sent home from school (laugh but its happened before...I think because of vaccinations...)