Tuesday, August 08, 2006

My Grandson is starting school

JJ will be starting school NEXT week. He will be going to a private kindergarden near my house and he is so excited. In Texas the cut off date for starting school is Sept. 1st. JJ’s birthday is at the end of October so he would have had to wait till next year to go to school. He already knows the alphabet, all his numbers, his shapes and colors and he can even add by 1’s. He knows that 1+1=2 and 2+1=3 and so on. He is a social butterfly and it would be criminal to keep him home another year when he is so ready for school. Jennifer and Justin decided that they would put him in a private kindergarten and give him a good start. When they registered him a couple of weeks ago they told Jennifer that school started Monday, Aug. 7th.

JJ was so excited and yesterday morning he was up early and got dressed for school. Jen made him a lunch and put it in his new Superman lunchbox and off they went to school. When they got there, they didn’t see anyone. Jen took JJ inside and asked where everyone was. They told her that they were sorry but school doesn’t start till NEXT Monday. JJ was devastated. Jen gave me a call and asked if JJ could come over and visit for a few hours. I said, “Sure, bring him over.” I wish you could have seen the look on JJ’s face when I opened the door. It was priceless. His mommy left him with us and he played, watched Noggin and ate yogurt at Memaw’s house. We talked about school and read a Bob the Builder book.

Today we are going to the clinic to get his next round of shots. Jen had taken him to the doctors office for a well person check up and they wanted to charge her $40.00 a shot. I reminded Jennifer that I used to take them to the county health clinic and they would get their shots for $ 5.00 each shot. She wanted me to call the clinic and make sure they still did that so I called and found out that now all it cost is $ 4.00 a person, no matter how many shots they need. Wow, that’s even better than what I paid for their shots. So today, we will be taking JJ and Jocelyne for their shots.

I still wish I could see JJ when they try to call him Justin at school. When anyone trys to call him Justin he always says, “My name is JJ, my daddy’s name is Justin.” This could be interesting.

On a frugal note: I read some good articles on the Dollar Stretcher this week: Here are a few of them.

Preparing for a Layoff: http://www.stretcher.com/stories/06/06aug07c.cfm

Back to School or back to the Poorhouse: http://www.stretcher.com/stories/06/06aug07g.cfm

Boomers retiring not so rich: http://www.bankrate.com/dls/news/pf/20060807a1.asp

Cleaning with Inexpensive Steam Power: http://www.stretcher.com/stories/05/05aug08f.cfm

12 Comments:

At 7:22 PM, Blogger Big Dave T said...

Thanks for the links, Lucy. "Boomers retiring not so rich" sounds like me. We're also investing in our sons' college education, instead of investing in our retirement. Yet, I'm not going to work till I'm 70. Maybe not even 60.

 
At 8:33 PM, Blogger Fred said...

Such a great story about JJ, Lucy. It looks like he'll be at the top of his class.

That's great advice about the shots, too. We had a similar situation where the doctor wanted $30 per shot. We waited for a fair sponsored by a local medical group, and we were able to get them for $10.

As a former HR weenie, I enjoyed rhe article about being laid off. I hated that part of my job.

 
At 9:37 PM, Blogger Curious Servant said...

Kids go back to school on the 12th this year. I return to work the week before.

Been a busy summer, but I am excited to get back at it!

 
At 3:28 AM, Blogger Michelle said...

Awwwww, how lovely! He will have so much fun ad make some great new friends!

 
At 6:30 AM, Blogger -tnchick- said...

My son missed teh age cut off date for K back when he started and had to wait another year. He was already on a 2nd grade level and I didn't want him to wait... but.... thankfully, he's still advanced. He really should be a grade ahead but isn't. Oh well. My daughter just started Pre-K =) My son registers tomorrow and starts 3rd next week.

 
At 7:24 AM, Blogger Mad Housewife said...

I remember kindegarten...It's all about coloring inside the lines. I was such a rebel.

 
At 7:59 AM, Blogger Lucy Stern said...

Big Dave - We told our kids from the time they were little that they had better make good grades and earn some scholarships or they were going to be paying for their own college. Bonnie made the grades and got scholarships, she also work a little for extra money. Jennifer went to community college and massage therapy school. We did help her with her trade school. William we had to pray his way thru graduation and he ended up working on the oil rigs for a couple of years. Now he does dry wall. He doesn't seem to have any interest in college.

I know that Bonnie has several friends who are tied to a lot of college debt. One friend has a debt of about $ 40,000. We have another friend who went to dental school and owes $ 250,000.

Fred - The shots yesterday cost Jennifer $ 8.00. JJ got four shots and Jocelyne got 5 shots. At $40.99 a shot it would have cost them $ 360.00 for shots if she had gone the other route. I'm glad I know a few secrets about things.

curious servant - A busy summer and now a new busy school year. This is what makes time go by soooo fast.

michelle - JJ is a real social little person. Yesterday while we were at the grocery store he said hello to the check out lady and asked for a sticker. She told him she didn't have any right now but if he would tell her when he is coming back she would have one for him. He thought for a minute and said three days. She started laughing and so did I.

tnchick - it sounds like you have the life of a busy mother with children in school. I remember those days. Sometimes I miss them.

leslie - kindergarden these days is a lot different. They learn so much more than when I was in kindergarden. JJ is really looking forward to it.

 
At 12:29 AM, Blogger Live, Love, Laugh said...

wow most kids are terrified on the first day of school, seems he is a very mature young fellow!

 
At 2:07 AM, Blogger Merle said...

Hi Lucy ~~ What a disappointment for JJ
to have to wait anoiher week. I suggest
you all start calling him Justin, so as not to confuse him. He sounds so bright.
Thank you for the comment you left at my blog. Much appreciated.Take care, Merle.

 
At 8:27 AM, Blogger Lucy Stern said...

live, love, laugh - JJ has been excited about going to school for a long time. He is disappointed that he won't get to ride the school bus, but he will next year.

merle - It is hard calling him Justin after calling him JJ all his life. Maybe his teacher will call him JJ too, especially if they have two Justin's in the class.

 
At 10:04 AM, Blogger Trinity13 said...

Wow, seems like schools are started earlier each year.

I would love to send my four year old to kindergarden as well, but his birthday isn't till March. He is already reading, so I hope school won't be boring for him when he finally goes next year.

 
At 12:03 PM, Blogger Rachel said...

It's possible the teacher will call him JJ if that's what he likes. He sounds like a bright little guy!

Thanks for the links!

 

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