Thursday, August 25, 2011

First First Day

Before I say anything else I have to thank you guys for all the support you offered after I posted my back-to-school worries. It is one of the handful of times (others - parties/holidays!) that I get really on the verge of panic over the food allergy situation. I know that I'm not a big target in the bloggy world - but you should see the kinds of comments that often pop up on allergy articles/blogs. Let's just say many of them are less than supportive. It means more than I can say that all I got was care and concern from my lovely webby friends.

I don't know that many of them read here, but I also have to say that the parents of Harper's friends have stepped up in a HUGE way this week so that she had someone (or two someones!) to sit with every day (at her peanut free table). The whole, "It takes a village," thing has never felt so true.

Harper herself was a complete wreck on Monday, the day before school. She was whiny and weepy and cycled from thinking first grade would be awesome to first grade would be awful about 368 times throughout the day. By lunch time I was hearing the siren song of boarding school. Because it (fortunately) doesn't happen too often, I kind of forget that this is how my dear girl works out her anxiety.

Are you surprised that everything has actually gone really, really well? :-)


All summer long I heard Harper say she didn't want to go to first grade because she loved kindergarten so much and didn't want to leave it. I had a hunch it would only take about five minutes in first grade for that feeling to dissipate and I was correct.


Harper, so far, is very chatty and forthcoming about her school day - especially if I don't press her about it all at once. She will wander in and out of the kitchen, dropping details like breadcrumbs, as I get dinner ready or do some cleaning up - I love it. And I LOVE what I'm hearing about what they are doing in school - I think she was placed with a great teacher for her personality and I hope Mrs. B is enjoying Harper even half as much as Harper is enjoying her!

We are so lucky.

***
File this under a problem I never thought I'd have...
.
Harper has suddenly decided that she loves reading more than TV (which is a huge turn-around, that child was TV obsessed by the time she was 18 mos. old). This, of course, is not a bad development but it comes with some unexpected (for me) issues. The primary one being that she keeps disappearing into her room in the morning  to "get ready" or going down the hall to brush her teeth, then, when I check on her, she is just sitting on her couch and reading instead of whatever task I sent her to do!

I have actually contemplated whether we're going to need a, "No Reading Before School," rule, to go with the, "No TV Before School," rule - how crazy is that?

7 comments:

bluedaisy said...

LOVE that things are going so well with first grade. And what an awesome group of friends! Reading is a problem? What a great problem to have!! An incentive to get ready faster so she can squeeze in 10 minutes of reading?

Giselle said...

Oh! I would kill for the reading problem. Andrew is a fantastic, proficient reader...and it is like pulling teeth to get him to do it. Sorry, that's incorrect. His teeth are flying out right now. Getting him to read is MUCH harder than pulling teeth ;)

I'm glad the first day and week have gone well. And I hope her friends continue to support her and drag a few more converts in at the same time ;)

Heather said...

I'm so glad Harper had a good transition to first grade and YAY for her friends!! Give her a hug from your online librarian friend and tell her I'd love to know what she's reading. Here's to more good days!

Emily said...

Caught reading??!? That girl is her mother's daughter. :)

And I also notice that I get so much more information if I don't insist on getting it all the moment I pick her up. Let it flow over the course of the evening, and she'll tell me as it comes up.

Kate said...

So glad everything went well! Thanks for your comments, too. Colin will have a great couple of weeks and then he will start testing his boundaries with his new teacher. So I am enjoying his enthusiasm now and hoping we quickly move through the next phase. Of course he's grown a lot over the summer and hopefully my fears are unfounded. Best, Kate

CARRIE said...

We need a "Can't Play with Barbies Before School" rule around here. Or "Can't Go Into the Bathroom By Yourself Rule" (Lord only knows what she is doing in there because she doesn't have books or Barbies....)

I am so glad she is adjusting well to 1st grade, and that you are adjusting well to her adjusting well. Being a mom is sometimes SO hard.

Sarah said...

Heh! My mom had to institute many rules about reading to keep me on task throughout the day as a kid. And, even as an adult, I've had to give myself a "no reading novels during the daytime" rule. Otherwise, kids get ignored way too much! (That was the ONE nice thing about bedrest... Could read all day if I wanted.)