School Registration SUCKED!

OMG!  Have you ever had to register your child for school and then come home and de-spazz??  I did yesterday.  It was a nightmare.  I’ve been doing this for years and yesterday was the worst ever!

First of all they had registration for all the schools (5 total) in one building at one school.  The VP from the high school told me that the first day of registration it was taking a parent with 1 child up to 3 hours to get registered.  And that was for a returning student.  Could you imagine if it was a new student!?  Well, it wasn’t that long for me but it was that stressful.

They did registration in stations.  Each child had a checklist that had to be signed off before the parent could go to the next station.  Sounds good.  That is doable.  The first station is filling out the basic form.  The next station was the nurses desk to make sure shots and stuff were up to date.  But the third station was the kicker.  The parents were supposed to get on a computer and make sure that all of the information in the computer was correct.  If it wasn’t it had to be fixed.  When it was all done it needed to be printed out to the appropriate school station.  Stressed yet?  Well, I wasn’t.  I’m a computer pro.  I can do just about anything and I can usually finagle my way around any computer program.  Plus there was directions on the tower of how to do it.  Easy peasy!  Um, NO!!  Total freaking nightmare.  Massively confusing program. And I had to do it for 4 kids!!  I felt horrible for those parents that aren’t computer literate.

The station after computer hell was the food programs.  Okay, great.  Well, because my kids are currently not on free/reduced lunches they wouldn’t give me an application.  But for some reason felt free to check for fines for my kids so before I could rip her throat out for discriminatory behavior, I got pushed to the Charges station because Lauren had a fine.  A big one!  She had been charged $63 for a math book she apparently never turned in (but swears she did and I believe her), and $5 for dry cleaning a choir robe.  I couldn’t continue on until I forked over that money.  Rachel had to run out to my van and get my checkbook.  That was a long wait.  Registration was in a round building and she got lost.

So after I cut the check for money that was meant to be Lauren’s school clothes I hit each individual school station.  Luckily, this year I have to contend with only 3 schools.  I started with Rachel’s first.  No problems at all.  They know what they are doing and do it well.  I love them.  Up next was the middle school.  Still doing pretty good.  The only hitch we had was that the computer system that generates schedules messed up Matty’s.  They put him in art…that is just funny.  And because he is in the same SPED class all day it wouldn’t let it repeat that over and over for different periods.  I wasn’t too worried though.  My team and I basically put his schedule together as we see fit anyway.  Easy fix

And thank goodness I saved the high school table for last.  My cousin used to be the registrar at the high school.  She was awesome.  She totally knew what she was doing.  This is the first year without her and it shows!! Austin’s schedule wasn’t too bad.  He got the electives he wanted and his teachers all look great.  But Lauren’s needs completely reconstructed.  COMPLETELY!!  She is supposed to be done with high school in December.  Well, they have her signed up for spring classes.  She has morning classes at the college and it is supposed to actually be in the afternoon.  They gave her electives, which she doesn’t need, didn’t sign up for, and can’t have.  I was fuming.  She is fuming.  But she called one of the people who work in the office who helped her construct her schedule last year and they will work on fixing it today.  Thank goodness!!  Holy cow man.

So I survived the school stations…barely.  Transportation was next.  Long lines, Rachel left me to go camping, and overstressed, too many people, fx carrier anxieties kicked in and um it was near meltdown for me!!  And nothing really happened there.  He put down their bus #’s but it was useless to stand there.  I have to call him next week to have him rework a different system because they changed school times and we have to finagle more stuff because of our jobs, the sped bus, etc.  Ugh.  I may just have to be late to work and they will have to suck it up and deal.

The next station was EPO.  I liked this station.  They know what they are doing…lol.  They just checked when the kids’ IEP’s were ready.  Matty is due in September and Rachel is due next spring.  Since I was already aware this didn’t faze me.  I like it when I’m prepared…lol.

And finally I got to go to the check out station.  Hallelujah!!  BUT….there always has to be a but…I still needed to sign up the kids for the after school program.  But it was so late in the day they had all went home .  So I need to go back.  I don’t know how, or when, but I have to.  Fudge nuts.  Fiddle sticks.  Son of a biscuit eater.  Ugh.  I’ll email her and maybe, just maybe, she can drop a form off on my door.  She is good like that.  I <3 her too.

As I broke off from the registration experience from hell I had to call Kevin.  He told me to chill and despazz.  That is easier said that done.  I got home and realized that that place had been HOT!!!  I don’t think their a/c’s were working.  So I hopped in the shower.  I managed to be there for like 30 minutes.  And of course, Lauren got home and had to share her woes.  I told her to hush cuz I was despazzing.  She obeyed.  I hit Facebook when I got out cuz that always makes me smile at least a little.  And when Kevin got home he brought me a beer and I ordered pizza.  By bedtime I was fully despazzed.  So now today will begin the reparative stage.  I need to work on fixing all of the screw ups from all of the schools.  Lot’s of emails could be going out today.  I may have to make a few calls…which I just love to do…NOT!!  And hopefully I won’t have to leave and go fix anything because I just can’t.  We’ll see.

If you made it this far, and haven’t stroked out, God bless you.