Dear Diary,
Well, we’re a solid few weeks into the new school year now. Kids seem to have adjusted well, even with the random changes to the times their schools now start. The high school starts a whopping FOUR minutes earlier. I don’t know what adding four minutes to their day is going to accomplish. Averaged out, that’s adding one minute per class. Do they have plans for that one minute? Will it be used wisely? My ADHD self would either hyperfocus on not wasting that precious minute or go into waiting mode and watch the entire minute tick by before the bell rings signaling the end of class. Maybe the extra minutes will go into travel time between classes, to encourage kids to use the bathroom BETWEEN classes and not miss valuable learning opportunities in class. I know! The extra minute could be spent on fostering resilience and mental health stability! Something better than the “don’t do drugs” and “let’s improve your self-esteem” crap my generation was fed. They could be learning to juggle, for all I know. Juggling could be a tool to foster resilience, right? Note to self: figure out the benefits of juggling.
The middle school now starts and ends 15 minutes later, yet the school bus arrives only FIVE minutes later than it did last year. I give up trying to math this thing out. My 33 college math credits now mean nothing. NOTHING! Besides, middle school years are TOUGH on EVERYBODY, so I heartily support letting them sleep in 5 to 15 minutes, depending on how they get to school.
The high school and middle school time changes are nothing compared to the DASTARDLY plans they made for elementary school. I’ve had a kid in elementary school for the last fourteen years. Not the same kid. Can you imagine a kid being stuck in elementary school for fourteen years? The kid would grow up to be Adam Sandler! Or maybe Robin Williams… I have been lulled into complacency regarding elementary school routines. I have never been so shocked and appalled at the changes that were made this year. Everything has been moved up by ALMOST AN HOUR. They must now be at school BEFORE EIGHT O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING! NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO BE AT SCHOOL BEFORE EIGHT O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING (unless they choose to participate in a special class or sport, like the year I was part of a select choir that met at 7am)! Kid #4 had trouble LAST year making it to school on time, when the final bell was at 8:45! We are an ADHD family of night owls! She’ll have to walk to school in the dark for three months now, instead of just December, unless the promised “west coast stays on daylight savings time” ever comes to fruition. I get that other schools in other districts have started this early for years, and everyone living north of me deals with longer periods of darkness. But I have been PROUD for FOURTEEN YEARS to not start before 8am. Now I have to be responsible and go to bed on time and get up before 7am, making sure kids #2 and #4 are up and at ’em and out the door at an inhumane time each morning.
How well the kids are adjusting:
Kid #2 has streamlined his morning routine to 20 minutes so he can get up at the same time as last year.
Kid #3 has woken up EARLIER instead of sleeping in 5 minutes. Probably due to the extra earlier morning activity.
Kid #4 has surprised me with her willingness to wake up and get ready and make it to school on time. She’s not there when the doors open, but she hasn’t been late yet, which I take as a win.
As for me, I could use an extra minute to foster some early morning resiliency.