Today was the big day. Jack started kindergarten. If I were a teacher and handing out grades, I'd give today a solid A. It went well. Much better than I anticipated. I'm really proud of Jack and how he handled it all. It's no secret he isn't a fan of big changes, and I'll fully admit he gets that honestly. But he handled today like a champ.
We spent the weekend gearing up after spending Friday afternoon meeting his teacher and getting his supplies settled in his desk. That all went really well and then we tried to squeeze every last drop out of summer while getting good rest and having lots of fun.
This morning Jack got up and was so very excited about his big day. He had picked out some clothes last night and had his backpack all ready to go. Max wanted to wear a nice shirt like Jack, so they both looked pretty snazzy this morning, if I do say so myself...
After the photo shoot, we all loaded into the car and headed to Tuckaway. Jack was also moving from Yellow Birds to Sparrows, so we had a transition to make there as well. He wasn't thrilled with this change, but since Kenny and I were staying until Jack got on the van to go to school, he did ok. I think part of the problem is that the few Sparrows that he does know, weren't there this morning since it was the first day of school and many of them were taken to school by parents this morning. So hopefully tomorrow, things will look a bit more appealing to him on that front. Before we knew it, it was time to get on the van!
Jack was still all smiles. And when I looked back to see if Max was doing ok - this is what I saw...
Despite Max begging to get to go to kindergarten too and wondering why they won't take him too, he seemed to be doing ok with it all. Just a swinging away. So we watched Jack get on the van and Kenny and I drove to the elementary school and waited. It was a gorgeous morning and there were sweet children and proud parents everywhere.
And a lot of great sidewalk chalk art welcoming everyone back...
Before we knew it, the van arrived and a cute little redhead popped out...
Then it was time to make our way to the kindergarten hall. Each classroom at the school has a country flag above it. Jack's is the Canadian flag on the left.
We met some familiar faces along the way - Tate's parents. Jack and Tate met at a rising kindergartener playdate and were fast friends. We've spent a fair bit of time with him and his sweet family since meeting them, and are just so happy Jack has made such a good friend. Unfortunately they aren't in the same class, but they are just across the hall and do get to meet on the playground for recess. And they live on our street so I envision seeing a LOT of them in our future. ;) As perfect scenarios go - they also have a little girl who will be 3 in a couple of months. It's just lovely.
Once in his classroom, we got all of his things settled and chatted a bit with the other kids and parents.
This sweet little girl, smiling, is Ellie, a friend from daycare. She and Jack have known each other since they were teeny tiny and they are in the same class! Francie, the little blonde in the background, sits next to Jack and is really cute. She was just a bit sad because her parents had just left.
This is Jack's teacher, Ms. Charity. She's been at this teaching thing for 33 years and seems to know a lot. She seems very warm and welcoming and I think is going to be great for Jack.
It was soon time to go. They only allow parents to take the children to their rooms on the first day. This is why. It's so hard to say goodbye. Jack was so brave until the very last second. And I'll admit, I wasn't any braver than he was once I saw the tears welling up in his eyes. It's exciting, but it's also a bit scary. We shed a few...a very few...tears, and then hugged one last time and were on our way. I envisioned crying the entire morning, but we really kept it to 20 seconds or so. I was proud of us.
I didn't look back - Kenny and I headed to the cafeteria to meet up with the other parents at the Boo Hoo breakfast. It was a lot of fun and nice to meet some other parents in the same boat. Our neighbor, Kelli, volunteers at school and thought to go check on him before she came to find us at the boo Hoo breakfast and tell us that he was doing fine. It was a very welcome piece of information. It was off to work after that and I couldn't wait to get home and hear all about it.
I walked in the gate to daycare to get him and his preschool teacher stopped me to tell me that he came back from school happy as could be and told her that he loved kindergarten! I was stopped just a few feet later by the teacher that picked him up on the van who told me he came out of the building grinning from ear to ear. I found Jack having snack in the Sparrows class, looking cool calm and collected. He only had positive things to say about it all and seemed as happy as he could be. They went to library and on a tour of the school. He ate lunch in the cafeteria and got to be the line leader. He snuck up on Tate on the playground and they had a race. He made a little art project that got a big smiley face.
He was exhausted. I thought he might fall asleep at the dinner table. And he was full! He'd eaten every bite I sent to school. That was a full lunch and a snack and then he had another snack at daycare. It was more food than I've really ever known him to eat, but I'm thrilled that he'll actually eat lunch now. He's a very picky eater and they didn't allow packing lunches at daycare, so he just picked while he was there. I'll be curious to see if he gains the equivalent of the "freshman 15" in kindergarten. :)!
I am SO relieved. And so very thankful.
Tonight, just before bed, he seemed a little sad and said maybe he didn't want to go back to kindergarten tomorrow. When we asked why, he said that it was such a long day and they only got to play outside once. It is a long day. And they do only get to play outside once. It's just how it goes and it's going to take a little adjusting. We were in bed early tonight and it's a short week. I don't think he has that much anxiety about it really - I think he's just adjusting. It's a lot. He's still napping on the weekends and at daycare, while he didn't always sleep, he rested for 2 hours every day. So to go full speed all day and have a lot of anxiety about all of the unknowns, I think it was just overwhelming and exhausting. He'll adapt. That was the first negative thing I'd heard him say all day, so I think the day still gets a solid A. Let's hope tomorrow does too!
09/04/13 UPDATE: This morning Jack woke up in a great mood and told me all about how he also had Spanish class yesterday. I asked what he wanted in his lunch and he said that he didn't care - anything I packed would be fine. It was all off to a good start but I fully expected him to fall apart as the time to leave drew closer. He didn't though, he kept right on doing what he normally does in the morning and being very happy and pleasant. As I got ready to leave I told him I was proud of him and I loved him and I hoped that he had a great day and would be a good listener. He said "I'm always a good listener Momma. And you know how last night I said I didn't want to go to school today? Well, I do want to go!" Hooray!!! Here's hoping day 2 is wonderful too...
