So Maybe Homeschooling Isn't Such a Bad Idea

We went on Jack's kindergarten tour yesterday.  He had been eagerly awaiting it all week.  When we got there, I was told that Mrs. Carney had to leave on an emergency so someone else would have to take us.  The someone else was NOT happy to do so.  Her greeting to us:  "So, I need to understand why you are here for this now and not waiting for the open house this summer?  What exactly are you expecting to see?  I need to know why you are doing this."  Ummm, we're here because the woman at the front desk ASKED if we wanted a tour when I came in with the registration papers and no mention was made of a summer open house.  Does that answer your question?  After berating Jack for not looking at her when he responded to her "Who's your teacher?" inquiry ("Jack, look at me.  LOOK AT ME WHEN YOU SPEAK!!!  Jack, I'm over HERE.  YOU STILL AREN'T LOOKING AT ME!!!  Look!!! HERE!!!"), she almost earned herself a kidney punch.  Poor Jack was so confused -- he thought she meant who was his kindergarten teacher which is obviously something he wouldn't know yet.  Yes, sometimes he stares off into space when he meets new people and we're working on that.  Scaring him only makes him more spacey and less likely to look the scary beast in the face, though, so her yelling was not helping matters.

After that lovely exchange, we got a 35 second tour in which she evaded all of my questions (How can she NOT have an answer for "What time does school start and when are the children dismissed?"???) and reprimanded Jack for wondering what Mrs' Carney's emergency was.  (He hears emergency and thinks fire.  It's not like he was prying into her personal life to post the deets on TMZ.  Plus, he was whispering to me, not inquiring aloud.)  As we headed for the door, I was carrying Natalie's coat.  Tour guide yells loudly, "Natalie, make sure you wear your coat!  It's cold out."  What the fizzle dizzle, lady?  OF COURSE, she will wear her coat and I will put it on her once I finish adjusting Jack's hat but if you are so concerned, how about you address ME, not my three year old?  No warm and fuzzies from this school in either experience I've had with them, that's for sure.  Maybe that's how it is with public school?  I guess they don't need to treat people courteously as a recruitment tool since they have to take anyone who applies.  It was annoying but I wrote it off, figuring that the office staff doesn't have much interaction with the kids and this wasn't a teacher treating Jack so gruffly.  Just out of curiosity, I went onto the school's website when we got home to see if I could figure out who this woman was.  Turns out, she's the school principal.  *jaw hitting ground*  Awesome.  Just awesome.  Do I go back to work to afford Catholic school or do I homeschool?  Neither option is palatable but neither is sending my son to a school run by crabby, disorganized bitches.