Entry #4

Entry #4

Monday, August 29

What is it about drivers riding up your tail around here? I felt like prey this morning driving my little granny mobile, feeling chased by a bigger car accelerating behind me, and I wasn’t even driving slow. The other day I was almost run down by a middle age lady in a Lincoln Continental. Today it was a delivery van, then a flatbed truck. Now I know why people drive big cars here—it’s survival of the fittest, Texas-style. Ironically, I saw a Smart Car parked in the handicapped zone.

As of this morning, Aidan will be attending the Esprit International School and Noah will be returning to McCullough Middle School. The prospect of returning to that enormous school is quite daunting for him, but Noah surmises that it’s the only way he’ll actually meet kids, learn how to navigate in larger waters, and hopefully stretch his comfort zone. I think it’s mighty brave of him.

We met some nice folks at Beth Shalom, the local synagogue yesterday, where the kids started Sunday school. Beth Shalom is the only synagogue in The Woodlands, and everyone is a transplant from somewhere else. I met a woman named René who just returned from three years away in Jakarta with her family (her husband is a geologist for Exxon). René is the sister-in-law of a woman I know from Berkeley whose daughter went to preschool with Aidan. I also met someone whose aunt and uncle were my next-door-neighbors growing up. Talk about a small world.

The most striking character I met was a matronly woman in her late seventies (I’m guessing) with cherry-red hair, a bright red sweater, large bifocals, and an apron personalized with the name “Grannie.” “My name is Beryl,” she said, “But you can call me Grannie—everyone does.” Living up to her namesake, she told me to eat, kvelled about the congregation, shmoozed with everybody then cleaned up. She also gave me a hug.

Upon returning home from temple, we played with Izzie and discovered some strange bumps on her belly. What could they be? There are so many bugs, critters and poisonous plants here, it was hard to figure out what was wrong with her. I did some research knowing the vets were closed on Sunday and happened upon this:

Venomous animals of Texas include (but are not limited to) the following: Paper Wasps, Red Wasps, Velvet Ants, Blister Beetles, Puss Caterpillars, 18 species of scorpions, centipedes, tarantulas, Spinybacked Orbweavers, Jumping Spiders, several types of Black Widows, ten different types of rattlesnakes, three different kinds of Copperheads, and the Cottonmouth, “the only venomous watersnake in North America.”

Doesn’t this make you want to come and visit?

4:30 p.m.: Noah texted me to come pick him up after school (instead of taking the bus). Not a good sign. This was his first day back at McCullough, and I discovered, to my dismay, that it was anything but a tolerable day for him. "I'm already in a hole,” he said, having missed two days of school (to try out Esprit), with countless math, reading, science, history and language arts assignments. How does one accumulate this much work in the span of two days—during the first week of school, no less? 

Noah said he thought he wanted to go to McCullough so he could meet some friends, but felt like he didn’t click with the kids there. He got so panicked, he felt like he couldn’t breathe and was going to throw up. 

Upon picking him up, Noah asked if he could go to The Esprit International School after all. 

School hasn’t even started yet back at Prospect Sierra, and we’ve already been through the topsy-turvy rollercoaster of exploring two schools, neither of which is ideal, but at least one might be fine for now.

Good thing I don’t drink, or I might be tempted to hide in a closet and guzzle some shnapps about now.

I think I'll go make some tea.

Tuesday, August 30

I will confess I did watch Something Borrowed, a romantic comedy that definitely fits into the category of “brainless drivel.” It helped get my mind off things, though.

While chatting before bed, Noah asked if he’d made the right decision to attend Esprit after all. I asked him to tell me about his day at McCullough, which pretty much answered the question. Here’s what he told me:

At math, first period, there was a quiz on stuff he'd missed. Plus, he was already behind several lengthy assignments. In language arts, he had to stay outside of class for 20 minutes while the rest of the class reviewed an assignment he would have to make up. (Someone walking the halls asked if he was in trouble.)

In science, Noah had missed yet another slew of homework. Same for American History. At lunch, Noah sat by himself. He tried to connect with a boy sitting nearby by offering him a freshly baked chocolate-chip cookie, but the kid said he already had a cookie. (Somehow this brief exchange makes me sadder for Noah than anything else.)

The last hour-and-a-half of the day, Noah had to sit on the bleachers because he was wearing jeans instead of gym shorts. Not exactly time well-spent.

Reminds me of Judith Viorst’s children's book, A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. 

How does one ease into a place like that? Moreso, what if you get sick or need to leave town for a few days? I now understand why this school is so highly rated with regards to test scores. They’re stuffed with information at a grand, rapid pace in preparation for spewing it out again. Conformity, competition and crowd control dominate, and none of these suits my gentle giant of a son.

David dropped the kids off this morning at the Esprit International School. I just hope it’s an okay day. I’m not expecting it to be incredible or excellent or even swell. Just fine will do. Really. As long as the kids aren’t sobbing or maimed, I’ll be happy for now. Strange how one’s aspirations can be lowered in such a brief span of time.