First Day

Monday, the 25th, was Matthew's first day of work at Sandia National Labs. He mostly just did HR stuff, but he did get to go talk to his manager for a bit and see where he'll be working. His second day he was able to walk to and from his building, and the day went well. He is tired, and the boys have been really confused at his all day absence, but I think we will all adjust well to this new schedule.

Today was Hyrum's first day of Kindergarten at Manzano Mesa Elementary school. We don't know how long it will take to get into our own house, and if it's months, I didn't want him missing out on too much. Plus, he is SO ready to go to school, and Abraham could use some time being the big brother. He woke up early this morning, and came downstairs all dressed and ready to go. He picked out his own clothes, but I was at least able to convince him to wear matching socks. We loaded up the sit-n-stand and walked him down the street to check in. It takes about 15 minutes, and he chatted excitedly all the way there. Once we got inside, however, he became quiet and reserved. Not nervous, just observant. He had no problems introducing himself or asking questions like where to put his lunch, and since he was coming in a week late, he got to pick his seat. He chose one right up front, next to a boy who seemed to be having a rough morning. Once he got settled, I asked if we could go or if he wanted me to stay a while longer. He asked me to stay, so I stood with the stroller near the door for a few minutes. The teacher started doing her thing and he never looked back at me, so I decided he was probably fine (plus, Abraham and Mercy were getting restless). When I first started researching the area, I was under the impression that Kindergarten here was half day. In parts of New Mexico that is true, but not here in Albuquerque. I had only two days to wrap my head (and heart) around the fact that my first born is done spending most of his time at home. He's a good boy, though, and I hope he'll choose to be a nice boy. 

While we walked Hyrum to school in the morning, he really wanted to ride the bus, so I decided he could ride home. The stop is just outside the gate of our little community, and it's the first one from the school. All Albuquerque Public Schools have an early release day on Wednesday's, so instead of going until 3:45, he gets done at 12:45. Abraham and I went to meet him (Mercy was asleep and the stop is just down the street, so I decided she'd be okay for the few minutes we'd be gone). We stood on the corner and a bus turned and stopped just a few houses away from us. I ran down to it, assuming Hyrum was on it, but he wasn't! The driver said she wasn't the bus number I was waiting for. So I waited anxiously for another bus to come along. After maybe five more minutes, another one came, but drove right past and turned on the next street down. I ran, with poor Abraham frantically trying to keep up behind me, but couldn't catch the bus before it unloaded and drove off again. At this point I was on the verge of an absolute panic attack. My youngest baby was alone in the house and my oldest baby was lost somewhere on a bus in a city we are both totally unfamiliar with. I called the school, who called the bus depot, who called the bus driver, who swung back around and dropped off my boy. He said he'd decided it was safer to drop the kids off down the street, but nobody had told the school system which meant I had no way of knowing the stop had been changed. Yeesh! 

Mercy was still sound asleep when we got back, so no harm done there. I asked Hyrum how his day was and all he had to say was good. He had a little behavioral breakdown and once he had a moment to regroup, I asked again how things went. He said he was sad because nobody sat next to him on the bus. I dug a little further and discovered that he also ate lunch alone and played alone at recess. The only other comments he made were that during reading time, the teacher said they had to be quiet, so he couldn't sound out any of the words; and that in this class nobody raises their hand but you have to be quiet all the time. I'm sad for him that his first day does not appear to have met his expectations, and even sadder that as soon as we move he'll have to be the new kid all over again.