Let the Good Times Roll

Wow, what a busy summer. We had a great vacation, did fun stuff, and I didn’t have to cook supper. What more can anyone ask, right?

I’m sure you’re all wondering how the new school is working out for my princess. I wanted to wait a week before posting, to make sure it really is going well and that her total excitement on the first day wasn’t a fluke. :)

She’s got off the bus the first day saying school was “great!” and she did not stop talking for a while, telling me about teachers (she likes them) and girls and getting a front seat in class and having a classmate make her a sandwich at lunch… She’s one of those kids who used to answer, “Fine,” when asked how her day was, so this was really thrilling.

After a few days she complained that she doesn’t like two things: they’re still reviewing (duh!), and saying “tuf” instead of “suf” is confusing her when she’s davening, so all the “ss” sounds are coming out “tt” unless she thinks about it, which “makes davening take so long.”

I reminded her that every year, every single school and every single grade starts with review so that the kids remember (“I do already!”) and so that teacher knows what the kids already know; this way, she won’t have to teach it again. (That made her happy.) And the more kriah she practices, the easier the tt/ss will get.

Old School Update: This week the old figurehead dean of the old school called me to find out why my daughter’s not in his school anymore. Turns out, he didn’t even know about the pre1a sleeves idiocy, and the bas melech sleeves inappropriateness, and got very upset by it. “Of course it’s not right! I’m going to have to look into this,” were his very words. I’m not really too hopeful, because if he had any real say in the school anymore, the rule wouldn’t be in effect for the third year already. :(

He also told me a really weird story at the beginning of his call, apparently to justify moving to the right. Can someone explain how this is a good thing? Here’s the story:
A man took his son to the seforim store before his bar mitzvah, to buy a siddur. The man asked the salesman for the biggest, thickest siddur he could find. The salesman, of course, asked why. “Because I know he’ll tear out pages, and this way he’ll have more to tear out.”

Why in the world is it a good thing to expect your kid to throw away what you’ve taught is the correct thing to do? Why is that a reason to not change schools? I’m really confused. But the rabbi said that if I change my mind, I’m welcome to come in and talk to him. I said I appreciate that.