Photo by lulamae123

The other day we kept my son home from school because he was sick. My husband took the day off to be with him, but typical us, neither of us thought to call the school to let them know. We had a foggy notion of some policy about that, but all we thought about in the morning was, "Well, our kid is sick, so he's not going in."

I get a call from the school nurse about 10:30, both alarmed and perturbed that we hadn't called him in.

I can't blame her. While she was thrilled that I was actually keeping him and his germs at home, she also needed to make sure my son was where he was supposed to be and didn't end up in the trunk of some pedophile's car on his way to school. I appreciate that.

CafeMom RaeLynn1221 does not vaccinate her children against the seasonal flu, nor did she want her little girl immunized against H1N1. She just doesn't believe the illness is as bad as the media is making out to warrant it.

And yet, the school vaccinated her daughter without her consent. There have been stories of this happening other places, but this is the first I've heard involving a CafeMom.

RaeLynn1221 is sharing her experience her to let other moms know that while it may not be common, mistakes are being made:

Photo by LelandsMommy

My son is doing so well in first grade -- he's excelling at math, improving steadily on his penmanship, and reading so much that he's literally eating books. Now if only I could get him to eat his lunch. This is a kid, who when he is home, has to protein load to body builder proportions every two hours or he wilts like a flower.

He only gets two chances to eat during his 6 1/2 hour school day -- lunch and an afternoon snack -- yet most of the time his quarter-eaten and barely recognizable sandwich and partially nibbled on snack still greet me in his backpack at the end of the day.

When I suggested to his to teacher to give him a little prompting at the lunch table, she said, "Oh, no, we don't do that in first grade. You have to convince him to eat on his own."

Photo by Momof3cuties

I'm so lucky that my son loves his teacher and seems to be doing well in her class, but that's not the case for all moms. ajzuell in the Newcomer's Club wants to request her second-grade son get a new teacher but wonders what her chances are.

"Next to impossible," one mom said. "Principals always defend their teachers and you will be looked at as the problem."

So I went straight to the sources in Teacher Mommies (a private group that requires joining) to find out if that's really true. Several teachers gave their perspective of the issue to help you decide if and how you should pursue this course:

Photo by 4timesblessed

Things are moving way too fast. Last night my first grader announces he wants a mohawk (since when did he even care about combing his hair?). Today he tells me that he no longer wants to wear underwear the color red. No particular reason offered. He's fine with white, yellow, blue, green, and even orange -- but no red.

Okay, so he's not demanding more than that. He's still fine with any style, briefs or boxers. He doesn't even realize it yet, but this is the start of the pressure to be "cool" and to "fit in." It's caused by the automatic release of certain enzymes, proteins, or cooties in his bloodstream that triggers this odd behavior in little boys.

It causes him to start making perfectly innocent but puzzling demands that mom can't reasonably refuse, all under the guise of "individuality" and "finding himself."

Photo by bandk4ever

I did it again last night. When my artistically challenged son drew a picture of his friend Sam for a homework project, I enthusiastically exclaimed, "Awesome job! That looks just like Sam! Way to go, your teacher will love that!"

But that was bold-faced lie. His teacher will not love that picture, nor does it look like Sam, or anything remotely human, for that matter. He took an orange crayon and drew a ball on a stick with little amoeba-like projections that I think are supposed to be arms and legs. Sam has no body to speak of, just a head and limbs. He also has orange skin, hair, and eyes, and I know for a fact that Sam is brunett.

Which means my son's picture was exactly the opposite of "awesome."

We're just about a full month into school, and between both my kids I've tossed at least two fundraising packets in the recycling bin. I feel guilty about this, really I do. It's not that I'm totally opposed to the idea of spending my Sunday afternoons asking strangers to buy holiday paper at inflated prices for what's no doubt a very good cause.

It's just that right now, Mommy's sanity trumps a new slide at the playground. I'm one of those moms who feels that adding one more task, chore, or responsibility to my daily life will cause me to EXPLODE.

Example: I just "found" the credit card bill that was due five days ago shoved into the phonebook page on plumbers, whom I was calling to fix the kitchen faucet that I spent hours decimating over the weekend.

My son came home with a notice from the school nurse -- another case of head lice has been diagnosed. I'm supposed to look for signs in my own children and take all the necessary steps to prevent an infestation.

Okay, so confession: I didn't even know what a head louse looked like before I dug up this really good YouTube video showing one of the critters in action. For some reason I always pictured them as little white bugs, but as you can see, they are just brown ugly with no wings. They don't have hind legs for jumping, they just crawl and scurry all over the place. [Shivers.]

Photo by LIV2TCH

My husband and I went to Parent's Night last week to meet my son's first grade teacher. I sat at my son's desk and wrote a note (I'm proud of you! Please eat your lunch.") in his journal for him to see the next morning. He was so excited! The teacher made sure all the parents left notes or pictures in the books before they left because the children were so looking forward to it.

It broke my heart to think of the child who would come in the next morning and find nothing in his book because his parents weren't there.

Our particular event was packed, but I know from reading in The Cafe that many parents -- especially dads -- do not attend Parents Night.

Is your child's school joining the green movement? If not, maybe you can help nudge them along.

I was so thankful this year when my son's elementary school finally decided to offer email notices, for families who opt for them. I mean, my son was coming home with piles of paper fliers each week. This is not only good for the planet, but it's good for keeping my desk neater at home.

As you work with your child's school and it comes time to make some changes (understandably, public schools tend to be a little slow on change), why not suggest greener changes?