3 kids + 3 LAUSD Schools
The term “hit the ground running” must have been coined by the parents of school-aged children during the weeks following Labor Day. The days of kids staying up til 10 or 11, eating pop tarts and chips and watching endless hours of the Disney Channel have come to a screeching halt.
No more hitting the snooze button three times before crawling out of bed. I pop up like a Jack-in-the-Box on the first ring, suddenly a Marine Drill Sergeant yelling, “Move! Move! Move!” as I coax my kids out the door using more stick than carrot.
That’s just the morning. My nights are now filled with parent meetings: orientation, back to school, PTA, Governance, committee meetings, and restaurant fundraisers as hundreds of my fellow parents huddle up like a pro football team, strategizing budget cuts, plotting ways to help our overworked teachers, and basically taking our already limited time from our little angels with the goal of improving public education.
Classes for most of the 2011-2012 Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) have been back in session for three weeks now, and with my kids’ ages of 5, 10 and 15, I am now a parent in three different LAUSD schools: Colfax Charter Elementary School in Valley Village; Millikan Middle School & Performing Arts Magnet in Sherman Oaks; and Cleveland High School Humanities Magnet in Reseda.
So in honor of the other LAUSD parents, here’s a little ditty you can sing to the tune of The 12 Days of Christmas. I’ve created an accompanying video with subtitles so you can sing along…
The 12 Days of LAUSD
By the 12th day of school at LAUSD
(we got)
12 discarded lunches
11 trips to Staples
10 forms to fill out
9 parent meetings
8 rescinded teachers
7 vaccinations
6 weekly emails
5 unanswered rings
4 requests for cash
3 dozen robo calls
2 buses broken down
and a lock down from a chemical spill
very VERY busy mom 
Love it. I hate the whole drill sergent thing. I end up stressing everyone out, including myself. But how else can I get them moving faster than a snail?
I’ve fantasized about getting a cattle prod.
Hilarious! I’m in the same boat as you are: three kids at three different schools. Open House night? How about Open House week! Anyway, I loved your little ditty. Best of luck and may the force be with you.
At least I was lucky that all my Open Houses were on different nights. I know some parents who have them on the same night, and the parent has to choose which kid she loves more. Actually she probably goes to the one who’s in the most trouble. For me – it’s usually the closest school. Unfortunately since my daughter’s high school is nearly 20 miles away, it usually gets the shaft.
Thanks for the force wish.