Michael officially started kindergarten back on August 16. For some reason our district always has the kindergarten students begin on Friday. You'll notice I didn't post anything about his day on Friday...
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| Looking a bit manic before school! |
That's because Friday went unbelievably well. I was a bit afraid that, if I posted about it, he would give the whole thing a second (or third) thought over the weekend and Monday would be a nightmare. Then Friday night he told us he loved his teacher and Saturday he told us he couldn't wait to see her again. And Monday he just got right up and went to kindergarten again like it was no. big. deal.
Tuesday morning he very casually said he didn't feel like going, but put up exactly zero fuss when I said he'd be going anyway.
But back to August 16. For many reasons I was worried about the first day of school. Michael is not a fan of change and tends to be anxious about new situations. He can also struggle with separation anxiety. He cried daily his first year of preschool, daily. Last year he put up such a fuss about going to Sunday School that we actually let him quit. He also gets easily overwhelmed in big groups and I think there are about 25 children in his kindergarten class. He also has an intermittently intense fear of any toilet other than ours, which is a story for another time.
Not only was I concerned about how he would do with the part of the day when he had to separate form me, I was also worried about how tired he would be. You see this little guy would still take a nap after lunch every day if we asked him to lay down. Not only is he doing morning kindergarten, he is also participating in an afternoon enrichment program, which means he is at school all day long.
So far, so good. Now he's usually a wreck by four or five on a school day, but he seems to handle things okay while he's there - which is all I can ask for.
The first day he didn't so much as hug me goodbye or wave when I walked him to his classroom. I almost called for him to come back and say goodbye to me but fortunately thought the better of it and managed to walk down the hall and around the corner before I started to cry...
And I did cry, although not that much. But I had a brief pang of grief that I'd just sent my baby away for the whole day... Even though all last year I left him all day, every day. I think it feels different now because, if I'm being fully melodramatic, kindergarten feels like the beginning of the end. Oh he has lots of childhood left -but the days of him being with me most of the time are gone. And yes, I even feel a little guilty that I gave up those days last year.
Michael came beaming to the car when I picked the children up from school that first day. "Great news, Mom!" he said, "Not one tear went down my cheek the whole day!"
Triumph.
But back to August 16. For many reasons I was worried about the first day of school. Michael is not a fan of change and tends to be anxious about new situations. He can also struggle with separation anxiety. He cried daily his first year of preschool, daily. Last year he put up such a fuss about going to Sunday School that we actually let him quit. He also gets easily overwhelmed in big groups and I think there are about 25 children in his kindergarten class. He also has an intermittently intense fear of any toilet other than ours, which is a story for another time.
Not only was I concerned about how he would do with the part of the day when he had to separate form me, I was also worried about how tired he would be. You see this little guy would still take a nap after lunch every day if we asked him to lay down. Not only is he doing morning kindergarten, he is also participating in an afternoon enrichment program, which means he is at school all day long.
So far, so good. Now he's usually a wreck by four or five on a school day, but he seems to handle things okay while he's there - which is all I can ask for.
The first day he didn't so much as hug me goodbye or wave when I walked him to his classroom. I almost called for him to come back and say goodbye to me but fortunately thought the better of it and managed to walk down the hall and around the corner before I started to cry...
And I did cry, although not that much. But I had a brief pang of grief that I'd just sent my baby away for the whole day... Even though all last year I left him all day, every day. I think it feels different now because, if I'm being fully melodramatic, kindergarten feels like the beginning of the end. Oh he has lots of childhood left -but the days of him being with me most of the time are gone. And yes, I even feel a little guilty that I gave up those days last year.
Michael came beaming to the car when I picked the children up from school that first day. "Great news, Mom!" he said, "Not one tear went down my cheek the whole day!"
Triumph.
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| Still smiling at the end of the day! |
