The first day of school was overall a success. RTM and I drove the boys in (with A also) to walk them to their classrooms and get them settled. They each had to bring in all their school supplies plus a lunch plus a snack plus two bottles of water. They must have been pretty excited because with all that weight, they still wore their backpacks and didn't even think to ask for help.
We found the classrooms - with all the construction at ASD (the American School of Doha - www.asd.edu.qa) they both have temporary portacube rooms, but they're air conditioned and the Kindergarten classes even have their own bathrooms, so it's no hardship. Both boys have 20-minute recess twice a day, plus PE class twice a week. Recess is outside - I guess they're not impressed by 104-degree heat. Most of the play area is covered with a canopy, and there's always a breeze. Sunglasses are a must, though. The third graders get a lot of freedom - J can do whatever he wants at recess, so he goes to the library half of the time. At the library orientation last week he asked three questions and the librarian made a point of learning his name - "I can tell we're going to get to know each other," she said. And they have - we got to school ten minutes early on the first day and J went straight there to see if a book he "reserved" was ready.
C was a little nervous at the beginning of the day but on Monday he brought home a birthday party invitation and on Tuesday he said he's making a friend with a girl whose name he doesn't know. Don't knock it - this is progress. He was excited about his first music class Tuesday, too. They're both happy to go to school in the morning.
The end of the day Sunday I had a scare. They bring all the elementary grade kids to the front gate of the school to be picked up by parents. It's a small space, sunny and hot and crowded. A had fallen asleep in the car so I left her inside with the a/c on to get a decent nap (you gotta do what you gotta do). After about 15 minutes I found C and hurried him back to the car to cool off and keep A company in case she woke up. Then I waited and waited for J. 20 minutes later all the kids have come out and no J; I was rather agitated. Two kids in the idling car in the parking lot and one kid unaccounted for - I'm 0 for 3 and pretty unnerved. Eventually we found him waiting for bus #5 - there was a typo on his tag and he got shuffled into the bus line. Fortunately bus #5 never showed up (I suppose that's good for me but bad for the other parents) otherwise he'd have been driving around the city who knows where. It took 45 minutes to find my kids.
Monday morning I updated the boys' records to make sure their information is correct in the computer and talked with all the teachers so everyone knows where they go. Subsequent days the pickup has gone smoothly. It's still hot and sunny and crowded - more like a cattle call than I'd have chosen, but it's reasonable.
