First Day: Elementary School Style

Watch out, World. Sadie Lou has officially joined the ranks of elementary school yahoos.

On Monday, these two started school - Sadie in kindergarten and Benjamin in third grade.

Yes, she donut rolls her socks. Totally her idea.

We are already hearing tall tales of what goes down at school. I have to dangle this out there for our wildly imaginative, drama-stirring-up girl: "I am going to email your teacher about that to see if she tells me it's true." Sadie will inevitably retract whatever story was told...the one about being sent to time-out for half a day, or watching movies in class (on Day 2?!), or about how another kid was already kicked out, or how her friends swapped food with her at lunch in order to trick their moms. (Seriously, whaaaaat?)

She comes by it honestly, though. Ever since watching the movie Big Fish, the Papa decided he needed to be that kind of figure in the kids' lives. Breakfasts are often spent discussing how he had a prodigious mustache when he was a mere infant. You can see where she might want to join the ranks of the grand  storytellers.

But things are off to a good start, barring the disappointing reality of homework. And long days. I try to make up for it with interesting after school snacks, however, three days in and I am already straining for ideas. The Papa and I are pretty excited that everyone crashes into bed by 7:00 and hardly a peep is heard after about 15 minutes. YES.

Catching Up - Kinder Grad!

Last May we had a graduate in the house. For the special day, the kids learned a couple of rewritten pop tunes - hits that got worked over to talk about their school memories, soon-to-begin summer vacation, and going into first grade. It was pretty darn cute.

And ever since receiving that diploma, he has told people that he is in first grade. Pretty excited about that, he was. 

Now that I am finally posting this, we are only two weeks away from school starting. What?! I can hardly believe it.

Not your average day

One of the first art projects Benjamin brought home from school was a comparison of day and night. Here is how he described his pictures:

DAY
That is the sun and the tree is an apple tree. There's a fort in the tree next to the house.

NIGHT
The scribbles up top represent fireworks. The white scribbles on the right are zombies. There are also black widows and lots of zombies in the house - you can see the explosions from them.

I have few words for this night time scene, except that he has never seen a zombie show at our house. Zombies are the Pre-K/K set's fascination, from what I can tell. Must be the talk of the playground.

In other news, he has art class every Friday and they always do really interesting stuff. I am so grateful that he is in a school that values art and music. They only get those classes once a week, but still...I think the quality of the education is quite high.

Kindergarten, whaaaa?!

First day of kindergarten

I'm guessing I'm not alone when, as a parent of a toddler, I dreamed of the relative ease I believed mamas of school-aged children experienced in parenting. I admit to occasionally (or more than that, truth be told) wanting to hurry up the needy baby years for the joy of the increasingly independent years. I'm sure you more experienced mamas are laughing at me right now - for here is the reality of the first child going off to kindergarten.

1. He's still needy. Why should I be surprised by this? I'M still needy.

2. Neediness is not actually the issue anymore: my baby is going to school for six hours a day! The initial giddiness at having that much time to myself (sort of, I do have Sadie Lou, Warrior Princess In Training, around) has given way to teary-eyed wonder. Wondering where the time went. Wondering if his little self is ready for the challenge. Wondering if I should homeschool. Wondering if I would still like spending time with him if we attempted homeschooling. But most of all, looking with wonder at what a boy of character he has become. He is brave and adventurous, with caution, of course - that is his nature. He likes school - really likes it. And he is thriving in the structure of the classroom.

3. His biggest fear of the first week was that no one would like him (poor baby!). But he made a friend right off the bat - Gabe. He and Gabe played together every day until Friday. On Friday, he met the girl with the "three Velcro-strap shoes" that were "sparkly and colorful." According to Benjamin, she looked like she would make a good friend. I'm not sure if he was more enamored with her or her shoes. He couldn't remember her name for several days, but I have since learned that she is KK, short for Kayla.

4. His biggest problem with the first week was repeatedly getting time outs. He soon discovered that rough housing on the playground was not allowed. He was red carded for karate chopping a pal in the neck so hard that it left a red spot. (One breathless teacher told me that he had "choked" another kid. That sounded like a Nancy Grace version of the events, so I went digging for the truth. Out-of-control karate chops sounds a lot more like my kid.)

5. Now his biggest concern is that Gabe is calling him "the enemy" and rounding up other boys to join in the persecution. The reason, according to Benjamin, is that he now has girl friends - KK and Elliot (yep, she's a girl). He seems not too concerned because he has met another Ben and they play together with the girls. All is well for now, though we might need to invite Gabe over for a playdate some day to break down his apparent feelings of rejection.

6. Most kindergarten programs around here are half day, so I struggle a little with his schedule of 8:00 to 2:30 and his homework that we must then complete. I'm all for rigor, but this little guy is still a little guy. It makes fitting in unstructured play time, household chores, and matters of hygiene a bit challenging. This school makes no apologies for their academic expectations. I am not as personally committed, but it seems to be our best choice for the time, and the clincher is...

7. Benjamin comes home regularly announcing things like: "I want to be a teacher one day!" (He used to want to be a police person and a circus performer - like in Cirque du Soliel. Sounds like he has a steady option to fall back on if being an acrobat doesn't work out for him.) And I told him in the beginning that we were seeing if this school would be a good fit for him. That if it was not a good place for him to learn, we would find the right place. He's an anxious kid, and I wanted to take the pressure off in case he had a hard time adjusting. I had nothing to worry about, because this is what he has to say: "I LOVE this school, Mama!  I don't ever want to leave it!  It is the BEST school!" So that settles the matter.

I will be going in one morning a week to assist in the classroom. I get to teach a reading group or something. I'm really looking forward to watching his wonderful teacher in action and seeing him learning so enthusiastically. We're off to a good start this year.

First Day: Preschool

Another milestone. Today we packed a lunch (a pumpkin muffin, sliced apples, and vanilla yogurt), a bag with a spare change of clothes (his initials written on the tags), and a box of wipes and tissues for the class stash, and headed off to school. Benjamin was sporting a new haircut and lunchbox, while wearing an old, slightly stained shirt. (Mama was so busy trying to negotiate all the extras this week, that she plain forgot to do his laundry!) We remembered to brush his hair and apply sunscreen, and almost forgot to brush his teeth (a rush job in the car a few seconds before leaving).

In true Benjamin fashion, he marched right into his classroom without saying goodbye. I peeked in to see if he would turn around and I could whisper or wave, but he was captivated by the circle of kids sitting on the floor listening to a story. I love that this school has such a calm and inviting atmosphere that he is not intimidated to enter a room with a dozen other children in it. I also love that my boy is interested enough in life that he does not cling to me.

This is a much needed new thing. Benjamin has been feeling the struggle of sharing attention with Sadie. He is also bored at home. I have gotten lazy about doing new things around the house with him. I am realizing that as he has gotten more self-sufficient, I have become more accustomed to letting him fend for himself while I accomplish tasks (to the extent that I can with Sadie around). That's good for his own self-reliance...not good for a boy who is smart, bored, and needing people time. I hope that these three half-days a week at school will give him the mental stimulation and the making-friends time that he needs, while I get tasks done around the house. Then perhaps I can be a better mama to him when he is around, and he will be less needy. All around good stuff, I think.

And now...off to update this blog, clean the kitchen, feed Sadie, and perhaps make it to the grocery store. Can't wait to hear how my little boy's day went!