Change

  I believe everything happens for a reason. Well, it's possible that "why dryers eat socks" and "the magnetic attraction between a clean floor and a piece of jelly bread" are not included in my "everything" but when it comes to the real stuff in life, what really shapes who we are and where we are headed in life, it's not just about coincidence. I believe it but I sure don't always understand.

 Last spring when we began the transition process from elementary to middle school for my second born, it suddenly dawned on me that I would have 3 kids in 3 different school buildings this year and I panicked just a bit. My husband and I decided to look into moving our first grader to the private school where his big brother goes but we were too late. We were told,  "his class is full, we'll put you on the waiting list." I had no idea how long that list was or how far from the top we were. I chalked it up as "how it was supposed to be" and moved on, schedule planner in hand.

  School started, we adjusted and all was going well. I filled out emergency forms, busing requests, and lunch menus and made it to 2 out of 3 "back-to-school" nights. Thursday, September 19th, was "Back to School Night" for my first grader. I met his teacher for the first time, visited the classroom and came home super impressed. He has a fantastic teacher! Of all the teachers, of all the years, of all my kids, she ranks in the top 2. Yeah, that good! Her behavior system was outstanding, full of encouragement and without the usual junk prize box. Her room neat and organized. Her personality fun and easy to work with. Now I understand, this is where he is supposed to be! I'm sure of it.

  Five {5} days later we received a call from the principal at big brother's school. There is now an opening in first grade, we are next in line. Seriously? It took me all of 2 minutes to make my decision. Why would we change now? He's happy, I'm happy, lets not mess with a good thing, right?  Of course if we said "no" to this opening, there may not be another in the fall but I felt like God could definitely work that out if it was supposed to happen. Surely there was a reason this opportunity only came up after I visited his class! My decision was made but my wise husband's words (to the principal) were "we'll talk about it and get back to you."

  So "we" talked about it. Well really, I blabbered on and on about all the wonderful things I learned at Parents night (the Mr. was not able to attend with me) and pretty much convinced the hubs that this was a no brain-er but the final call had not yet been made. Procrastination? Distraction? Providence? All of the above? Wednesday afternoon, I'm cleaning up the never-ending-paper-mess that goes on on the kids little project table and I find a note from the first grade teacher. How did I not see this 2 days ago when it came home? I have no idea. The paper states that said teacher will be taking a sabbatical to further her education. Beginning in January my son will have a substitute, yet to be determined, for the remainder of the school year. Wait, What? That changes everything. If the boy is going to have different teacher anyway, it might as well be the one I have met. We decided to discuss it with him and give him some say in the matter. He's a loyal boy. He's content and happy with his friends and his spot in life. Change is hard. Unknowns are scary. But after some thought, and the news that his teacher would be leaving too, he decided he was on board with the idea of switching.

 He passed the evaluation with flying colors  (not that anyone was really worried about that) and we decided the two day break in mid October would be a good time to make the transition. Public school had a 3 day break, private school had a 2 day break. I gave the boy a choice, have off or go to school on Monday. He choose to go. So Monday morning, I dropped him off for his "first" day of first grade. Again. It was harder on mommy the second time around then the first. He knew the name of one boy in his class, didn't really know him, just his name. Everybody else is already in routine. They all know each other. The rules will be different. The teacher will expect different things. Seems like an awful lot of pressure for a 6 year old. But in the end, he rocked it! He declared it a good day. He gave me a list of all the things that were better about this school. Yup, he misses his old friends, but he's moved on and it's all good. So proud of that boy!

{Thank you Mrs. T. for jump starting him off for a great year in first grade 

and for gracefully blessing our decision to make the change! We will miss you and your fantastic class!}

  Sometimes I wish I could handle change this gracefully. Maybe those socks devoured by the dryer ARE part of a bigger plan. Maybe they do shape who I am becoming. Maybe, just maybe I could use a few more lessons in patience, contentment and accepting change. Socks and sticky floors may be one of the cheapest ways to learn some of those lessons.