Kindergarten, Day 2

Today was Zachary's 2nd day of Kindergarten, the first day with the full class. Today was also the first day I let him ride the bus home. I have a cute picture, but my camera and computer are mad at each other and the pics won't download. I'll deal with that tomorrow, maybe.

This morning I took Zachary to school, where his class gathers. We saw a couple of the neighborhood kids on the way and Zachary's demeanor changes ever so slightly when we see them. He acts bigger and more independent. It tugs at my heartstrings a little. When we arrived where his class gathers he left me and never turned around again. I called goodbye, but he didn't hear me. He happily marched to his classroom with his friends. That is how it should be, sniff sniff.

So how is this Kindergarten thing affecting Evan? He suddenly is acting bigger too. He's clicking along on a good schedule and loving the extra attention he's getting from me lately. He's also getting better about going on outings with me. For a while he would cry every time I put him in a shopping cart or the stroller, wanting to be held. Today we went to Target and out to lunch and it was very pleasant. Things are working out wonderfully because Evan is smack in the middle of his afternoon nap when Zachary gets home from school so I can have some one-on-one time with him before Evan wakes up. (That's when I give him the inquisition, gently, of course).

So here's what I learned today:

1. Riding the bus is really fun. He had to sit with a kid he didn't know today because the teacher put him there. Andrew (the coolest kid on the block and a 5th grader) asked Zachary to sit with him tomorrow. Zachary adores Andrew and his brother, Jack, and I adore the whole family.

2. He didn't drink anything at lunch, despite my packing a milk with his lunch. Unclear if he got a milk from the cafeteria. He saw other friends from preschool, who are in a different class, today at lunch.

3. They learned a song about peanut butter. He performed it for me several times tonight with the little dance. It's so cute, and watching his face light up and the huge grin as he sings makes me so happy.

4. He cut out school buses at the assistant teacher's desk, but he colored at the teacher's desk. He colored his bus blue, since that's his favorite color.

5. All the other students say that "C" makes the "ka" sound like in cat, but he told them it also makes the "sa" sound like the dwarf planet ceres. What can I say? The kid loves the planets and all things to do with outer space.

I also got the full report on who wore what, being that they have required uniform colors. The PTA sells school spirits shirts that can be worn, but Zachary doesn't quite get that it's okay to wear them even if it's the "wrong" color. Oh, and Banks (his real name) was on yellow today for walking on the wall. O-kay.

I was quite productive today, especially while Evan was napping. I do miss him terribly and cannot quite figure out what to do with myself all day. If my energy level holds up (and if I don't get to bed soon it won't) I should have my entire house organized and my body completely buff by the end of the school year. I finally have time to clean out closets, get on the Reformer, and still pack in some cardio. Now I know why all the other women in the neighborhood look so good - their kids are already in school!

First Day of Kindergarten

My little boy is suddenly so big. Today was his first day of school. He's at a big school with around 600 students in grades K-5. That school is a well-oiled machine, I must say, because they were so organized today. We were to meet his teacher this morning at the P.E. Pavilion. When we got there she was there and the other children were all sitting in a line. Zachary's favorite friends from preschool were waiting for him.

They are, from left, Alex, Madison, Marshall, and Zachary. The girls are twins (duh!) and Zachary is completely in love with Madison. Their family went sailing with us a couple of weeks ago.

Zachary was SO happy to have the girls (and their big brother) on the boat with us. Their parents are good friends of ours, so we all had a great evening.

But, I digress. Today was a hard day for me. It seems as if Zachary just grew up all of a sudden a few days ago. I watched the class walk from the P.E. Pavilion to the classroom this morning, and they all just followed along like they were supposed to - none of the 'cat herding' of preschool days past. All of the kids suddenly seemed so responsible. A couple other mothers and I followed the class, delivering school supplies, and we all just hung back as they found their cubbies and placed their backpacks and lunchboxes in them. Only then did I start to panic - I told Zachary he would get to eat in the cafeteria today but ALL the other kids brought their lunch. Oh dear. Then they each wandered into the classroom and sat on the big circular rug. All, that is, except for Zachary, who stood there for what seemed like minutes just staring.

He finally found a seat, next to Madison. Whew.

Then I proceeded to worry about the lunch thing. What if he didn't want what they were serving? Would he whine and cry? Panic, panic. I left the class and went to the cafeteria, where the PTA was hosting a "Boo Hoo, Yahoo" Social for the Kindergarten moms. Another mom, a good friend of mine (she has one in 1st grade and another in pre-K there) said she would check on Zachary during his lunch period. She called me later and told me he was fine.

I picked him up from school today, but I have decided to let him ride the bus home now. I know it sounds crazy, and three days ago I would have said NO-FREAKIN'-WAY to the bus. That was before I learned that half his class (the ones that live in our neighborhood) all ride the bus, as well as ALL the kids on our street. I've enlisted the bigger kids in the neighborhood (by bigger I mean older, there are two 5th graders on our block) to watch over Zachary on the bus. Plus our neighborhood is the 2nd stop. Thursday will be his first bus ride home. Zachary's more excited about the bus than he is about school, I think.

So, my friend Leslie gets her daughter to tell her 5 things that happened at school every day. Michele, who will not be outdone by Leslie, gets her triplets to each tell her 5 things that happened at school each day. Not that I'm freakishly competitive or anything, but I knew I was going to pry 5 things out of Zachary today. I did, however, hedge my bets - I brought along bribes.

5 Things that Happened on the 1st Day of Kindergarten:

1. They played on the playground. Zachary likes the playground equipment better at "big" school because it has a big slide. That earned him a new t-shirt (the PTA was selling school shirts this morning).

2. Julia whined today. She didn't get the memo about no whining at Kindergarten, apparently. That only earned him his water bottle (with ice water, it's so hot here still).

3. He liked eating in the cafeteria. He chose a hamburger, peas, chocolate milk, and chocolate pudding. For five years I've coached him on healthy choices for food (there were some healthy options), I'm not sure where I went wrong. This was a lot of information, so I gave him the other t-shirt I bought this morning.

4. He got moved from the blue group to the yellow group, which made him unhappy. Marshall and Madison were in the yellow group, so that was short lived. That earned him some Cheez-Its. They eat lunch at 10:30 so I knew he'd be hungry.

5. He then offered lots of banter about specific children in his class. This was very informative, especially about he children I didn't know. That earned him the jackpot: Skittles. Or 'skitters' as he calls them. He's had them at birthday parties and for snack at his summer camps and loves them. I don't like to buy him candy, but this was a special occasion.

I got precious little info about what they learned or what the teacher talked about today, but I'm hopeful more information will be forthcoming. Tomorrow he doesn't have school, the other half of the Kindergarten class will attend, then the entire class will be there Thursday and Friday. I have to be dressed and ready at 6:45 a.m. because once I get the kids up it's a whirlwind to get out the door at 7:30. I'm used to getting up around 6:30 so it's not that much earlier, we're just used to a more leisurely breakfast. I'm glad we have tomorrow off.

Speaking of tomorrow, Zachary, Ryan, and I are hitting the links. It should be fun!

Being Strong

There are times in one's life that one must be very strong. Most of the time I think it's a woman thing, however as I get older I realize it's not exclusive to my gender. I did not know my own strength until I began infertility treatments. I further realized the strength I possess after becoming a mother. I doubt myself frequently, but at my most rational I realize there is very little I cannot handle.

2 days before my 40th birthday (and a giant party my wonderful husband threw for me) my grandmother was admitted to the hospital with gangrene in her right foot. That night she had her right leg amputated below the knee. My family was shocked, devastated. My grandmother was such a huge part of my childhood, she helped raise me. She was quite active and lots of fun when I was young. She was my age now when I was born. The years have been hard for her, however, and for the last decade or so she's been mostly sedentary and clinically depressed. I've tried to do what I can to help her. I have helped her with a yoga program, walking programs, and other forms of exercise to help get her moving. Nothing stuck. My Mom has tried to get her involved in social groups, support groups, and the like. Again nothing stuck, for long. It's really sad.

However, I must remain strong. I went to visit her and supervised her PT and OT. I sent flowers and pictures Zachary drew for her. I call multiple times a day to offer words of encouragement and support. It's so hard, though. She's not used to formal exercise at all, so it's exceptionally brutal for her to do the simplest things. Her medical prognosis is good, the reality is not so good. She's doing fine with her PT, despite her protests. What I'm afraid of is that once she gets home the depression will take over and she won't continue her exercises. Her general health isn't so poor that she will just die, she would just return to her sedentary ways and simply rot the rest of her life away. I pray desperately that won't happen.

On a much lighter note, Zachary's orientation for Kindergarten was today. It's bittersweet to see him so big. Ryan and I both went to the school with him, each holding a hand of Zachary's. He happily bounced along with us, then saw some other kids and wriggled his hands free to skip ahead with them. My chest tightened a bit. I cannot believe he starts "big" school tomorrow.

Our zoned elementary school is the best in the county, and we were fortunate enough to get the legendary Kindergarten teacher everyone wanted. All the kids in the neighborhood go to this school, and many of the kids from his preschool class are in his class. I already love his teacher (everyone said I would) and hope she won't retire before Evan is old enough to have her.

I was quite nervous today, wanting to fall apart just a little, but I kept it together for Zachary's sake. He's happy and excited, but I can tell he has a little anxiety about the "newness" of it all. I know he'll be fine, but I know his life will change forever tomorrow. It's a rite of passage, so I have to be strong. I must say, however, the situation with this school, having the right teacher and living in our neighborhood is all SO perfect. I have a strong sense of peace about it, that is when I'm not nervous as a cat. The school has what it calls a "staggered start" - tomorrow the 1st half of the alphabet will go to school, then Wednesday the 2nd half. Zachary will go tomorrow, then be off Wednesday, and all the kids will be there Thursday and Friday. Tomorrow is a big day for my little boy.

B-O-R-I-N-G

My life is boring. I've wanted to blog for a few days now but I have nothing to say. Don't get me wrong, I like boring. I crave schedules, normalcy. I enjoy predictability. I love knowing what I'm doing next Tuesday. I realize that's strange, and I have worked on being more spontaneous. However, in my defense, spontanaeity isn't something one can always create when one has small children. Especially when those small children are both (finally) sleeping 12+ hours at night. I'm terrified of that changing, therefore I revel in my boring schedule.

Besides, it's not like never get to do anything. You can't just sail to the Dry Tortugas every day.

You can't just have a fresh grouper, caught by Ryan and Ace, for dinner every night.

And you cannot just hang out with Belly Dance Superstars in Costa Rica everyday.

And you cannot just meet people on the internet who become your closet friends (and travel halfway across the country to visit you) every day.

And you certainly cannot wear funny hats every day . . .

. . . or hang out with Winnie the Pooh!

And you don't get to chill backstage with an American Idol Finalist (Vonzell, center) every day.

And you definitely do not get to have a giant water slide in your yard for a week that often.

But I do get to look at these beautiful faces . . .

. . . every single day. And on any given day my boys and I might play golf, swim in the pool, or go out on the boat.

I just love hanging with my boys. Yes, my life is b-o-r-i-n-g!