UPDATE on elder son: First day was freshmen orientation and

[GreenPartyVoter]

went pretty well. The class size is larger than his entire former elementary school, but 3 other classmates came along with him and he knows and is friends with some upper classamen from our town.

Unfortunately, the next two days did not go as well. He refused to go buy lunch and came home very hungry and grumpy. I think he was overwhelmed because all the rest of the students were now there, and the cafeteria is loud and the line is long. And of course there is always that awful sense of self-consciousness that seems to accompany being in a school caf for some reason.

The new plan will be to make sandwiches so he has a lunch, and if he ever feels up to getting hot lunch, he can save the cold one for a snack later. The question is whether or not it will fit in his backpack. (The school does not use lockers.)

And we just found out today he was mistakenly put in the wrong level of one of his classes, and it's going to screw up his schedule putting him in the correct one. Cross your fingers that the transition period is a short one, and that his schedule can be fixed!