And so it begins...

I will never get over how weird some of the stuff is that ends up on America's Got Talent. Seriously.

Today was Vinny's first day of school, and it was definitely a positive experience. Yea! On the way home, he asked if he gets to go back tomorrow, and when I told him yes, he cheered, "Yea! Mommy, I don't ever want to leave kindergarten, it is so much fun!" Hahahaha.

He says he made friends. He doesn't remember any of their names. I heard several times about his teacher's quiet signal. They did a coloring activity where he colored a picture of himself, and they watched a movie about a duck and a frog and an ant. I heard all about both playgrounds and snack time. Apparently there are people from his preschool there, but he didn't see any of them; however, he doesn't seem to care. I am so relieved and so glad that he had a good time.

In other news, Marc is on track to become a first rate PTA Dad. He was on a first name basis with the PTA President by pick-up time today. He went to the "Parent Hour" this morning, where he introduced himself to the board members and proudly declared that he wants to join the PTA board. She enthusiastically took his name down and handed him a calendar of events. This whole thing probably sounds funny to most people... who don't know Marc. If you do know Marc, it makes a lot of sense. I have no doubt that he will really enjoy judging art competitions and coordinating pumpkin carving contests.

My world lately has been about balancing ten million responsibilities and handling paperwork on top of paperwork. Our school decided to implement benchmark tests as of last year to be able to pay teachers based on student performance. If using a value added model, this is not a terrible idea, but it involves finding an accurate testing method, which has not been a seamless process. I was only given about 10 days to work with my department chair on perfecting the 10th grade English exam. It has taken up most of my free time at school, since the exam cannot leave the department chair's classroom. I am STILL not finished, despite putting hours of work into it. And this is just one thing on my mile high pile.

Today was just plain exhausting too. It was one of running around the room like a chicken with my head cut off helping students with their papers. These are always exhausting days, but they are worth the results.

Sigh. Time for bed. Sleep. Wake. Repeat.