12 weeks..............

Look at me....12 weeks in Seattle and I haven't fled yet!!! Theo had kept saying that he didn't think I would stick around 3 months later yet here I am, proving him wrong. I should mention for a good portion of that time I could not even travel so even if I tried to flee, I am sure airport security would have stopped me. Especially when they noticed I was exceptionally larger than any pregnant person known to man.........again, circus managers are trying to recruit me.

A few changes in the past week or so...................

This past Monday was my first day without Theo or my mom. It was also Athan's first day of summer camp. Being alone normally wouldn't bother me, but the getting Athan up in the morning and to school on time etc. was my big fear. First of all, and this may surprise most of you, I don't enjoy mornings. I don't enjoy waking up actually but I really don't enjoy it in the morning. Anything before 9am actually makes me mad. 

So I was more concerned about getting Athan up and ready for school, plus getting myself to look normal and getting the baby changed and ready and fed and then changed again and then taking a moment to cry to myself in the closet and then changing the baby again and getting Athan to eat his breakfast(muffins and milk) and trying to tell him that he should play nice and listen to his teachers and not do kung fu panda on anyone and then getting the baby to stop crying and then trying to have a cup of coffee(or as I think of it, the deterrent for child abuse) and then trying to find keys and changing my pants because these rubbed up against my stitches and then remembering to bring his jacket and then changing my shirt because I ws leaking and then making sure I had my keys again and key card and wondering why there is this crying in my neighbors condo and then finally getting the kids in the car and then racing to get to the school a little early so the other parents wouldn't know right away that I will forever be the parent whose child has 50 million tardies and none of them will actually be his fault. Once that was done I was totally fine. I did, and do, have a few gripes about the summer camp though. Now, I realize things are not always done the way I believe they should be. I am still uncertain why that it, but it is and I have learned to adapt. However.............

When I arrived at the school, there were not clear signs as to where the classrooms were located. It was not the main school as I assumed but rather some buildings in the back. Ok, not a problem, but definitely something I would have marked clearly.

Upon entering the school with Athan in tow and Alex in his stroller, no one actually asked me who I was or where I was to go. Finally  after the 3rd person simply said Hello to me, I turned to the one person and said" So, how does this work?" I was then asked what classroom my child was to be in and that I should sign in. I did as told. I asked where the teacher was and she was not there already but I should have Athan-----who they called Ashin and the Athen(like Athens but no S) to go play for abit until school started(remember I got there early!) Anyhoo, I spoke to the program director and asked her to explain the program a bit more to me and about the field trips and all the fun stuff that seemed to happen during the hours my child WAS NOT there. I told her that after learning all the fun stuff would be for all day children, I would have signed him up for the all day not just half day. She did say that Athan would be allowed on full day field trips etc but that yes, it was not clearly stated in the program enrollment----again, something I would have made sure of.

So I turned to Athan and told him I was going to leave but that I would be back in a little bit. I told him to play nice and with the other kids who were in his class and playing near him.------at this time there were three other kids playing at the table Athan sat down by. 2 of the three appeared normal while the 3rd growled something at me. It made me think that A) this is exactly who Athan is going to want to hang around with and B) I wish I taught him in Greek to understand the phrase "stay away from that one". Athan seemed maybe a little uncertain  about me leaving for maybe 5 seconds and then said bye and gave me a kiss. I got into the car and that's when I started to cry. I thought I would be more hysterical crying but it was actually a very slow, heart wrenching, broken hearted kinda cry.........doves were falling from the sky from my heart ache, harps began to softly play in correlation to my falling tears, and the sky turned gray from sorrow. I really was very upset.

I know it's only stupid day camp and it's not the first time he has had a class where I wasn't with him but it was the first time he had a class where he didn't know anyone.......he usually had his trusted partner Taylor to goof around with. Plus, I don't know anyone there and he didn't know anyone so it's very upsetting to know you are leaving your child to fend for himself.

So, the time finally comes to pick him up.....the class is only 3 hours long. Anyway, I come to the school and go to the classroom and the teacher is still doing class with all the kids because the half day kids are with the full day kids so the teacher takes like 5 seconds to let the half day kids go to their parents and then resumes class. So Id idn't egt to ask her anything. But, as I was getting Athan ready to go, Miss Sue---the teaching aid--comes to me to discuss Athan. Miss Sue, who seems lovely, told me two things that disturbed me. Miss Sue is also a foreigner. I mention this because I thought there may have been  language issue at first. Also, because I am sure that if I make disparraging remarks about Miss Sue, I will use her being a foreigner in my insults( I can do this as my parents are foreigners so I have that "free pass" to mock what in essence are my own types). She stated that when Athan was told to clean up, he said no and wanted to keep playing............perhaps this is something I could work on at home she stated. Also, he didn't want to wear his name tag. Now, he actually did have a name tag on the back of his jacket as did most kids so obviously he eventually got it on. The name tag by the way had his name spelled wrong "ATHEN" is not his name. This isn't difficult. His name is similar to Nathan only without the N. Listen if the Greeks can figure this out, everyone should be on board.

Work on getting him to clean at home......something I should work on with him at home....telling a 3 yr old to put down his toys so he can clean and he didn't jump immediately to that command!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's it......it's ass beating time!!!!! Listen Miss Sue-------if that's your real name-----Sue being such a popular name from the small communist cold war country you finally escaped from after being ordered from some magazine only to escape that man's clutches and end up here in America in my son's summer camp----telling a 3 yr old to clean up and them not jumping at the chance is what we can normal. I realize that you were brought up  differently. But since chances are you never even had a toy growing up other than the mop you were given as your birthright combined with the fact that you already were in the middle of cleaning while playing with your mop, please understand that 3 yr olds don't get excited to clean the way you do.

But, I will take your suggestion and mull it over. Now mind you, when I got Athan in the car I did go over the cleaning issue and listening to teachers, even Miss "Sue", etc etc. Athan told me about his day and that he played with some kids but didn't know anyone's name. He played mostly with some girl----he now refers to her as Iron Woman so who knows who that is---and he mentioned his snack of graham crackers. So overall, he did not appear too scarred.

The next day I did go in and speak with Miss Kris, the lead teacher. I asked her Athan was the day before and how this works about getting info on how he did for the day. Does she take time out to tell me am I to rely on the "surely she is undocumented" Miss "Sue" or what. How does this place work I asked her. She said that she Athan did fine yesterday. I told her what Miss "Sue" had told me and she said that Miss "Sue" shouldn't have said anything since A) it's a new setting for most of the kids and new routine B) Athan is only 3 C) The kids are all trying to adjust D) Miss "Sue" is a communist and militant about children obeying.  Also, Miss Kris said that if Athan does it after a week then it would be something to address but the first day is a big change for kids etc. etc. Anyone with half a brain understands why you shouldn't tell a parent that your child's first of school would have been better had he been trained to clean more and play less. Now, I told Miss Kris as well that "Athan" pointed out to me that his name was misspelled. I explained that It's Nathan without the N not Athen without the S like the town in Greece that was the starting point for democracy, language, philosphy etc.  She then turned to Athan and said "Athan if your name is spelled wrong, let me know." Here is where my lie came in.........Athan did not notice his name was spelled wrong because first of all the name tag was put on his back so how could he see it. Second, I don't think he would even notice it was spelled wrong. But he does know how to spell his name so maybe he would have but I doubt it. I noticed it was spelled wrong and didn't want to be a huge bitch and rat myself out about his name being spelled wrong. But it does drive me crazy............They spelled Athanasios right but Athan throws them for a loop. Why am I spending Theo's hard earned money on this camp if you can't spell my child's name correctly?!!!

After picking Athan up that afternoon, Miss Kris said he did fine etc. When asked, Athan told me about his day and playing etc. He mentioned snack time which was waffles. He adores Waffles but only Eggo Waffles....anything else he and refuses them. When asked if he ate the waffles, he said no that they were not good--which means they were not Eggos-------I asked him what he told the teachers and he said that he told them "no thank, we have food at home". I about shit bricks. How funny is that.

The morale of this lesson is that obviously Miss Kris and Miss "Sue" don't realize how special and talented and charming and funny Athan is. I say this because what Miss "Sue" should have said to me was" what an amazing and talented boy you have. We are honored that he is in our class. Your child is too funny!" But they didn't seem that enamored by him. They actually treated him like he was JUST ANOTHER CHILD. But that's not how Theo and I treat him. My parents don't treat him like that. Auntie Janelle doesn't treat him like this. No one in my office treats him like this. His Uncles and Aunt and our friends don't treat him like that. We all treat him like he is Special. Could it be that he is not as special as we all thought he was? I mean is that what I am supposed to take away from this? I mean right now Athan is telling Alex that we are all his friends and that we are all here to take care of him. How could this child who is telling Alex that he is a good brother and kissing his head be someone who has teachers that don't realize how great he is? This perplexes me but I am willing to roll with it for a bit and let the teachers grow into Athan. I am sure in due time, once they are done being overwhelmed by students, that they will see Athan as the most miraculous boy in the word, just as we all have.