BACK TO SCHOOL
Not Just About the Kids

The first day of school brings all the excitement of a new year, seeing old friends, apprehension about homework and grades and grieving that summer is gone. For parents it is much the same, excitement that the kids are back in school, apprehension about them fitting in socially and academically and grieving the low bank account after back-to-school shopping.

The first and second day of school, the kids get settled into their routines and find their way around the school and playground. They may have some anxieties and concerns but they enjoy their days. They reconnect with friends, they bring home their shiny new planners and are filled with ‘guess what’ stories.

Then it hits, around the 3rd or 4th day of school….the kids are oblivious to the impending doom…the forms. The multitude of colourful repetitive information-seeking forms that the kids bring home with the message that they must be filled out TODAY. The forms that the school already has all the information for from previous the year, the forms that are wasting paper, the forms that cause headaches for many parents.

I spent two and half hours filling out name, address, phone number, name, address, phone number, interspersed with writing cheques! Cheques numbered 035 – 040 don’t know what hit them! I put all the forms in my daughter’s school bag and went to bed feeling that I had accomplished so much, then realized I still didn’t complete my son’s forms. Tomorrow night, I say as I massage my pen-cramped hand.

I know the forms are important and they are for our children’s safety and well-being. I get that! We need to make sure when we ask someone how the kids are coping with the first day of school that we ask how the parents are coping too!

Submitted by Corinne Stockford