Kindergarten Week 1

Well, we did it.  It wasn't easy, but week one of kindergarten has come and gone already.

We kind of set ourselves up for failure.  After C went to one of the best Christian schools in our area for Pre-K, he started at public school this week for kindergarten.  I compared it to driving a Lexus then trading it in for an old jalopy.  I picked Connor up from school on Monday, seeing him waiting in tears.  When he got in the car, he told me he was waiting so long at dismissal, that he thought I wasn't coming. (Dismisssal was a giant hot mess on day 1 of school and I waited for over an hour in the parent pick up car line).  Little did Connor know I was staring at the clock all day, counting down until I could come pick him up!  My heart broke a little while he was crying.  He put the tears away and just had at sad, heavy breathing, as he was recovering from his cryfest.  We pulled out of the parking lot and Connor said, 

"I think I need to go to a new school."

Oh dear, I thought to myself.  I asked him why he felt that way and he responded with,

"We didn't talk about Jesus all day.  Not one time, Mom."

Oh, how the Mom tears flowed under my sunglasses.  My heart ached.  I didn't quite know how to explain all that to him, but some how mustered out something like, "I know.  I don't like that either!  I think we're going to just make sure we talk about Jesus even more at home now.  Some people aren't comfortable talking about Jesus, like you are.  You were lucky to learn about him at a young age.  You may not talk about him at your new school, but that doesn't mean he's not there with you."

Cue more Mom tears.  We went home, relaxed, and I was just happy to have my boy home!

To help pass the time while I worried about C in school each day, Noah and I tried to stay busy.

The little booger was all set up to play with his water table in the driveway.  Instead of splashing in the water and playing with his toys, he chose to empty each toy from his table, one by one, and watched them roll to the bottom of the driveway.

"Mom, all my toys are down there now!  You better go get them!"

(Over and over and over and over...)

This little person definitely keeps me busy.

We stopped in to visit the "B" boys too!  As much as I couldn't wait for Noah to become mobile, I found myself wishing he would just stay put like his cousins again!

Each day of school had its hiccup.  I think Connor had tears Tuesday after he waited in line to play ring toss at recess, all to get to the front of the line, and have some kid tell him he can't play.  Tuesday night, Connor had a big, emotional meltdown at bedtime.  He didn't want me to leave his room at bedtime.  He came downstairs in tears a few times after I tucked him in.  He didn't want to go to school.  I knew the school allows parents to eat lunch with their kids in the cafeteria at anytime, so I asked C if that would make him feel better for school on Wednesday.  He thought it was a great idea, so Wednesday we did just that.  Noah and I met C at lunch.  C was sitting there looking around for us as we came into the madhouse of a cafeteria.  It was overwhelmingly loud for an adult, let alone a 5 year old.  I did my best to perk up my boy in the 20 minute lunch time frame.  We had a good chat, Noah was all smiles at Connor, we got a good laugh at the fact Noah had a nasty smelling poopy diaper, and all was going well until the teacher came over to gather C's class.  C threw his lunch trash away, I leaned down to tell him that we'll see him in just a few hours, and then...C's eyes welled up with tears.  He wanted so badly to leave and come home with me.  I tried to not annoy his new teacher and get in the way, but I walked as long as I could with C in the cafeteria, before we had to part ways.  My heart broke, yet again.

The afternoons were C's highlight of the day, as he got to be a walker with his neighborhood friends 'over the mountain' into our neighborhood (we have a side route in our community where the parents wait in their cars to retrieve their kids to avoid the dreaded parent pickup car line).  I love to see him walk over the hill with his friends, hand-in-hand.

By Friday, Connor had his first no-tears-day!  His table earned the most 'fuzzies' for behaving all week, so he got to pick some ridiculously cool sunglasses out of the treasure box.  This kid is too much. 

I have a new appreciation for what my Mom went through when us kids went to school.  The anxiety that you carry as a kid when going to school does not even compare to the roller coaster of emotions a Mom feels for her kids.

Here's to a happy week 2!!