Birthdays, back to school, networks & comments

[heidi]

There was a localized outage yesterday for my cable modem and when it went back on for everyone else, it stayed off for me. So no internet via desktop for me until Monday afternoon which means:
Sam, please send chapter in text form
Nifflers, please be patient with us
HPWiki project, I'm unable to wiki til tuesday
People I owe comments to, it'll likely be Tuesday

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At least the sidekick is working.

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Yesterday we had a swim birthday party for Harry, complete with diving for pirate treasure, a pirate cake and Jon jumping into the pool without water wings, which resulted in Aaron jumping into the pool, fully clothed, to rescue him. Jon can swim well with his wings, and moderately when he goes in via the steps but if he jups far from the wall he has nothing to grab to. So aaron rescued him, but it was terrifying-after-the-fact. Bubble suit is now mandatory at the pool, period.

The pool was the perfect end-of-summer activity. And yes, I do mean end of summer. Is it only schools in Florida that open this week? Even the Gap's back to school sales down start until Monday and our local Targets were still putting the supply displays out this past Wednesday. Dave Barry wrote a wonderful piece for the Herald (herald.com) last week, which I can't link to because of the desktop issue, but which is worth searching out, because he explains our feelings about school starting on August 8, to paraphrase, "WTF"?

So we're all set with school supplies, uniforms, heely sneakers for walking and rolling, and lunchables. And it's bloody august.

Hey, at least they can wear shorts.

Comments

[ceilidh]

Re: School start date - We start this Wednesday (as does most of SC) and so does legomymalfoy's nephew in AZ. The reason is that in SC the school year is mandated at 180 days. In order to get 90 days in the first semester for middle/high school and have exams before winter break plus state and locally mandated holidays, etc, you have to start in early August. When I was in school we had first semester exams after winter break which was extraordnarily stupid, as who wants to study over the winter holiday break? And they have found that the high school kids do better on their exams before the break and not after. So, it kind of sucks, but then again school gets out in mid-early May and not early June, so it's not like school actually lasts any longer than it used to.

[gmth.livejournal.com]

We're mandated at 180 days, too, and we don't start until August 29th. And that's earlier than it used to be, because we were constantly running into problems during the winter time (we have at least 4-5 snow days every year), and school kept being pushed out until the end of June. Now we start at the end of August and finish up at the beginning of June and still have a few days built into the schedule for snow. Your vacations must be longer than ours if you have to start so early, because I'd guess you don't get as many snow days there as we do.

[ceilidh]

We had to build in a lot of teacher inservices too (more state mandates) as we used to use them for snow days and then... we couldnt' meet the state inservice requirements). We usually get out around December 18,19ish... we used to get out closer to Christmas and it was such a hassle, and we get the day before Thanksgiving off as well as that Thurs-Fri.

We used to start at end of August and get out at the beginning of June but it's difficult to do that and still have first semester exams before the winter break.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

My high school was private, so we had exams before the break, and they just tweaked the length of the terms so it worked out ok. First term was just shorter than second. I guess there's a reason they can't do that in public schools but I really can't fathom why it's a non-option.

[nut-shell.livejournal.com]

V. scary about Jon in the pool. *shudders* Thank goodness Aaron was right there.

We start school Aug. 15, which I thought was early. sheesh.

Do they let them wear heelys at school? It's not an issue here in Tennessee (which is, apparently, not cool enough), but in CA there was a strict rule against wearing heelys at school.

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

They're allowed to wear them to class in the morning and out in the afternoon, but they have to pop the heels our before class starts and can't pop them in until they're out of the classroom. Or so I've been told.

[megd.livejournal.com]

Schools in Mobile, AL start Aug. 15th and in Baldwin County they start Tuesday.

But they require long pants.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Sent! But I keep getting bounce messages. So if you didn't get it, I'm not sure what to do :/

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Got it, whee. Comments on, um, Wednesday?

[wordplay.livejournal.com]

Eep on Jon jumping in! This week, for the first time, A swam the length of the pool on her own, meaning that she has past her extremely informal family swimming test and it's all gravy from here and I'm breathing a bit easier. I'm not sure what it means that she's swimming capably before she's potty trained, but I'll take it. The potty thing is an after-we-move project.

School starts here in our part of Texas on the 15th, but not until the 29th in Maryland. Which reminds me that sometime this week I need to call his local elementary school and withdraw him. :D I have no idea of what his dress code will be once we get moved and Marc has been dead useless on the school stuff and I am flailing just a little bit, although we did order a backpack and lunch sack from Lands End last night. And then I got a bit drunk, b/c OMG KINDERGARTEN!

And I looked, and O's little feet are still too small for Heelys - he's still in a 10 1/2. I just bought jeans that fit and they were a 4 slim, and still a little big around the waist, and he'll be 6 in November. I just bought black mary janes for A in a size 5 1/2. My kids are so TINY and occasionally it can be difficult for clothes. *pouts*

Ramble ramble. Obviously I miss talking to you. *hugs*

[wordplay.livejournal.com]

PASSED! Passed, dammit.

And to think that's one of my pet peeves....

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Have a drinkie!

[ceilidh]

And then I got a bit drunk, b/c OMG KINDERGARTEN!

I KNOW!!!!! I went in the school computer to print my class rolls and there was my kid! I had to sit and stare at it for a while...

[dharmavati.livejournal.com]

Is it only schools in Florida that open this week?

Wow... that's early. Although, thinking back on my Florida vacations, it makes sense. Whenever we went to WDW in August, the crowd would be much smaller, save for an unusual amount of Scots. In New Jersey, we're still entering our second month of summer (we start September 8th, I think). Yeah, starting school in August must be killer... except for the getting out in May part. We get out in June and it takes FOREVER.

So we're all set with school supplies, uniforms, heely sneakers for walking and rolling, and lunchables. And it's bloody august.

Funnily, so am I. I have all my folders and school supplies because my mother likes to beat the back-to-school rush.

[stephandra.livejournal.com]

I know some schools in Atlanta started 2 weeks ago. I also know that when I was in school in TX, they always sayd that we got out in may and started early august to allow us to take advantage of theonly moderattely cool summer weather TX had to offer. They said the beginning of August was so flipping hot that no one would want to go outside anyway, so stick them in school.

Never had the school sales problem, and we even had a tax free weekend before school started to buy school supplies and such.

[acusa-dora.livejournal.com]

My son goes back to school Monday and we're in a suburb of Dallas.

Glad Jon was okay.

[psychic-serpent.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Dave Barry would be all "WTF?" about that, since he's from the Philadelphia suburbs and our kids don't start up here until about a week into September. I think I know why, though. Schools in the South and Southwest all have air conditioning, don't they? So it doesn't really matter that it's still pretty hot when the kids are starting. Up here pretty much NONE of the public schools have AC, and in June, when it starts heating up, it gets pretty bad. (At Ben's school the junior high is on the top floor of a four-story building. Let's just take a bunch of 12-14 year olds DRIPPING with hormones and put them in 90+ degree classrooms, hm?) The private Quaker school where they went to camp last week has AC, but the tuition is very high (and they have a pool as well). So I'm betting that when AC became the rule and not the exception in schools that are in hot areas the beginning of the school year started creeping further and further into August. Personally, I don't necessarily want the district to add AC to the schools; I'd be happy if they'd get enough textbooks for all of the kids. ;)

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

Well, back when his older son Robbie started kindergarten back in 1986, <a href='http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/special_packages/5min/12295852.htm">we started the school year</a> a little later in August, so I think that's what he was anticipating. Most of our school was not built with ACs. It was built in 1936, so window units were added many years later, then eventually replaced by spit-and-polish drop-in central units, sometime before I started there in 1977. It's chilly in the classes, actually!

[folk.livejournal.com]

See, when I was six or so, I slid down a waterslide into an empty pool -- and I turned out all right! Eventually, they have to learn the sink-or-swim thing, although it's lucky that Aaron was there in time. And hey, you'll have a great story. :D

[heidi8.livejournal.com]

But he's only two, so even though he sort of knows what to do, he doesn't have the strength or coordination to do it yet. That[s what makes it scary...

[phoenixsong]

There are a couple of schools in N.Va. that open(ed) either this past Monday, or this coming Monday -- they're actually shortening the summer break, and adding time for a longer fall, winter and spring break (2-3 weeks each).

[viridescence13]

Is it only schools in Florida that open this week?

Nope -- I'm in Georgia and most counties started this week. August 1. Ridiculous.

[til-midnight.livejournal.com]

The last year I lived in Texas, we started school on July 31. No joke. And to make things worse, it was 115 outside, the school was kept at 60, and I had to walk to and from school.

[genealogygirl.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear Jon is okay! Elizabeth's swim school is big on water safety (and Harry is now taking lessons there ...... with me of course). She had to pass a "float test" to move on to her current class level, wherein they are thrown out into the middle of the pool fully-clothed, tennis shoes and all, and must either float for 5 minutes or get themselves to the side. They have to do it for 3 consecutive weeks and on the 3rd time, they must be wearing winter clothing. Elizabeth, hating to float and having been swimming really well since age 2, simply got herself to the side.

Everyone has to do what they are comfortable with, but I'm not a big fan of the bubble suits and floaties on the arms for the reason that it gives them a false sense of confidence in the water. So, we've never used them, and my kids are enrolled in swim class at age 6 mths and we go year-round. But, then again, we have a backyard pool and even though it's equipped with an ultra high-grade alarm system and the outside doors are alarmed, etc. ----- I feel most comfortable knowing that she knows how to float if she falls in with her clothes on. I periodically still toss her into the pool fully-clothed when she's not expecting it just to test it. :--)

Gads ------ I sympathize with this "starting school in the blazing heat" thing --------- we do it here in Texas too. Crazy!