Awwww-yeah-tumn

Well then that hit hard and fast. Happy Ides of September!!

Stuff's getting cozy. And a little hectic. All at the same time. 

Ok ok so last we talked Allan was careening through a private school application that... ultimately did not go anywhere. They seemed a little nonplussed that she was not a perfectly self-regulating stepford child. Or that was my take. When they wrote back offering to give more feedback, I said it didn't really matter, as their assessment of whether she'd do well there was one I trusted well enough. 

Honestly, we kind of started to realize that they were no better and possibly worse on covid precautions than the public schools putatively were. Just to dot-i's-and-cross-t's, we also investigated a forest micro school and various home schooling options before we actually heard from West Seattle Elementary (FINALLY) and connected with her teacher. 

Which was huge. Communication!!!

 They seemed totally overwhelmed and like they had been given about a day to move into a new location and process all new students. So, chaotic. But the vice principal seemed nice and Allan's teacher seemed to be unphased when we described some of Allan's challenges with transitions and big feelings. She seemed pretty willing to work it out and keep trying stuff. And keep in contact. All of which were heartening. I guess an advantage of public school is that they're pretty familiar with kids who aren't perfect Stepford Kindies. 

The space they're starting at is a bit depressing. 

This is their "outdoor" lunch area. In order to keep the numbers down, Allan's class will be having lunch at 10:40. So far, she's basically failed to eat anything at school because the whole "lunchroom" experience is chaotic and disorienting and they don't want them to be there for too long what with the covids and all. Our new after school ritual involves a lot of eating needless to say. 

Drab as the school is, it is built on the back of a gorgeous park 

Not hugely relevant but it lifted our moods considerably to walk around the trails there after checking out the sea of ugly portables.

Nervous and anxious, we still managed to make the most of the pre-kindy weekend, by sending Allan off for one last Gramma Pam Hoorah summer weekend. 

Meaning we got a bit of a date in ourselves. It involved beaches and trails and a ton of Bill and Ted. 

Also some shelves! Which are still fairly bare, but I've made an effort to move things onto them to make them feel useful. 

And we had our first child-free friend date! 

First in a while anyways. I can't actually remember if we've managed one of these before. I think maybe not?? Which is a little crazy but childcare is not exactly the kind of thing that grows on trees unless you really really trust those coconuts to make a healthy dinner.

As expected, there were hijinks. We ended up meeting at a brewing company a ways away from the park and a fair bit later after a lot of wandering around the Fremontish area. But we made it. And food was eaten and sunset was watched. 

Gas Works Park is beautiful. And full of goose poop. These are probably more coincidental things than any causal relationship but I wouldn't fully discount connection. 

We got along well enough to make another friend date with the kids the following weekend. Classic Wrightian Fare. Andrew took a cycling buddy and the remaining parents watched the kids. But it worked out well. So, feeling good about that!

(my camera was a bit fussy after I tried to launder my phone - whoops - but here are some cute kids playing together and don't they have beautifully complementary twinsie hair?)

And then...

Of course...

There was...

SCHOOL

Ok so after  alot of angsting, it wasn't very heartening to see that a sizable minority of students appeared to have their masks either under their noses or fully off their faces. It seems to have improved by this week, thank goodness. But I'm sure she'll still end up with covid. Just hangin' on until November or December and the pediatric vaccine and then bring on the sniffles I guess. 

Also... Allan is 

A little tired. Seven hours a day of NEWNESS maybe is a bit draining. Her second day of school she complained that it was not the weekend and said she didn't want to go anywhere. I said I thought she'd had fun. She said "yeah but you get tired even of fun things." She asked how many days were left. She didn't like the answer. Having art class definitely seemed to help this week. So, fingers crossed. 

She had an art project on Monday that continued into Tuesdsay, and this seems to have made a hugely positive impact. Lunch is too loud, and she never seems to have time to eat, so we spend a long part of post-school come-down eating the bulk of her lunch (and then she snacks - on fruits and veg - until dinner time). She has cried when recess ends because she likes recess so much. She can jump rope, but not hula hoop. One day a little boy kept touching her and that was annoying. Another day another little boy kept making funny noises that made him sound like a car and that was annoying. Nobody seemed particularly annoying on Tuesday, but we'll see. 

I still don't have a great handle on how she feels about school as a whole. 

 I want to honor how much of a transition it is. And how big a deal it is. And I don't want to lie to her. School isn't easy for every kid. Not every kid makes friends eventually. It can be a fucking awful experience, honestly, for some kids.Ultimately I've been explaining to her that it's a huge adjustment and it's all new. And she's going to adjust to the new schedule, things will start to be expected, habits will form, and then it'll be easier to work out. what needs improving or tweaking. Mostly though we're all optimistic. I'm trying not to betray too much hope or expectation for her to find friends when I ask her about her day (I always hated when my dad did that - it made me feel like he thought I was an awkward loser, especially if I mentioned a friend and he got all excited)

  But whatever else: 

SCHOOL HAS BEGUN!!

And we're all a little sleepy. 

But we still hadta celebrate.

Which brings us to the story of the Mermaid and Shark. 

For her birthday we told Allan she could have one toy from the aquarium gift shop. She found three that she wanted - a book, a mermaid doll, and a squeezy shark stress ball type thing. We told her she had to choose one, which prompted angry recriminations and despair. She eventually chose the mermaid but couldn't let go of the squeezy shark. She howled about having to give it up. I asked if maybe she wanted the shark more (I thought it was cooler). I thought about trying to buy it for myself just to calm things down, but principle of the matter and all... She said no she wanted the mermaid. 

Eventually we pried the other toys away from her, and bought the mermaid . She spent the rest of the day holding the mermaid and crying about the shark toy and the book. The mermaid ended up in her room but never got that much of a honeymoon period. She mostly remembered it as "the toy from the time mommy wouldn't buy her the other toys" She still doesn't do much with the mermaid. What Allan didn't know was that my sister and mom had bought her the shark and book at the gift shop when she was distracted. We saved them for the next occasion - first day of school. 

A month later she finally got the shark! She loved the shark. She told me on Saturday that she loves the shark much much more than the mermaid. She thought she'd wanted the mermaid because it was colorful, but she really the shark. the shark and Marlon Bundo are her favorite. 

BUT THEN, the shark toy didn't squeeze quite like it originally did. She doesn't like it anymore because it squeezes too slow. I need to buy a new one...

The mermaid still just kind of sits on the bed. Marlon is still the favorite. Puppy Dog made a reappearance. The book has done pretty well, though I have no idea where it is at this point. But we all read it several times and it is pretty darned cute.

MORAL BEING: There is not moral. Choice fatigue is real. Gift shops are evil. Kids are fickle fudgers

And Allan abides. 

In other news, I started allergy shots. 

Meaning a weekly drive to my immunologist in Bellevue for the next couple of years, most likely. Oh boy! Fire up those podcasts and bring me some atavan. West Seattle traffic is... aggravating. Andrew's lucky that he won't have to return to work until January now. That's only half a year of awful traffic! But At least with in-person school I can just do this. This is surreal in a lot of ways. I just have a window of time I can do things in without a bunch of twisting around. It's been since Allan was 3 and at Skagit Arts, since this was a thing and it's confusing. I've gone to the park just for kicks. I've been taking walks with Andrew after lunch. And the house actually gets clean some days. I do have a little bit of work, but it's in a lull period right now and I'm not really feeling the restlessness of being "idle" just yet. 

But sounds like work will be wanting more of me maybe next week.One of the programmers just got promotted, so that little drab of training I did before everyone got too busy to continue... not gonna get me anywhere. It could get interesting.