24 hours as a new kindergartner

Preparation for the first day of school starts the night before. Who are we kidding? It starts months before, probably even years. For the purpose of this post however, we'll start the night before.

The uniforms are all ready: Jumpers and shirts hanging on hangers,

Sweaters and pants neatly folded in drawers, and shoes shiny and new and waiting to be worn.

Their new alarm clock (complete with ceiling projection) is set for 6:30 A.M., yes 6:30 A.M. Ugh.

The girls have a bath and head to bed for a good nights sleep. Afterall, they have a busy day tomorrow.

Daddy makes blueberry pancakes, bacon, and deviled eggs, orange juice, and milk for breakfast their first day (He was worried about having enough protein.) Their lunches were packed and ready to go.

A quick photo shoot with Mommy and @aktse, (with much silliness) then into the car, and off to school they went.

Once at school there were many things to do starting with a scavenger hunt (Daddy read the list). First they had to find their cubby, and put their things inside.

Then they had to find the bathroom, the calendar,

and the under the sea reading area.

At this point the girls split the list. Riley went to the rug, and built a design with the shapes while Sam found a book from the rack for Daddy to read. Soon Riley joined Daddy and Sam to hear the end of the story.

Then it was time for the kids to sit on the rug, and for the Mommies and Daddies to leave, and begin their long wait (2 hours) until the end of the day.

Waiting...

waiting...

still waiting...

Spying on the class as they take their class photo (this was taken through a volleyball net with my telephoto lens (thus the blurriness). The two short ones on the right? Those are mine.

waiting some more...

and still waiting...

Finally, it was time to pick them up. They were patiently (and quietly) lined up at the door until they were released,

and then out burst a group of excited and happy Kindergartners. A hug and kiss for Daddy,

a short stop to peek in on another mysterious room of the school, one last drink from the fountain,

and a quick goodbye to friends until tomorrow, a snack,

a peek in the science room, and it was finally time to head home, and prepare for day 2.

That first day was just 2.5 hours. 3 weeks later and they're up to 6 hour school days. Wow!

They're also just as interested in everything about the school, and they love their friends. I love the enthusiasm.

The Road to College

Today our lives turned a corner on the long road to college (or some life path of their choosing), my girls started kindergarten.

When my eldest started kindergarten the teacher did a home visit ahead of time to assess the students skills, and to help prepare us parents for that momentous first day. One of the things they told us is that it would be best if we just said goodbye at the play yard gate, and walked away. No long goodbyes, no clinging hugs, just peel the kids off and go. I spent 2 weeks mentally preparing both myself and Stacey for that day. When it finally arrived I got her up, dressed, and fed. Took the obligatory first day photo (which is still one of my favorites) and headed off to school hand in hand. My heart beat a little faster as we neared those ominous gates (which in those days were chain link, but are now a lovely wrought iron). Suddenly the moment was upon us, we were there, and even more suddenly my kid was off. There she went, through the gate, to the playground, to swing on the swings, slide the slides, and climb the structures without a look back. I found that the clinging, crying child at the gate was me.

Fast forward many years to the present day when I once again found myself sending a child, two in fact, to school for the first time. I'm not sure if times have changed or if it's just the school, but there were many events leading up to this day. Parent back to school, buddy parent meetings, lemonade socials, and the like have broken us in for this first day. Instead of leaving children at the gate, parents were welcomed into the classroom and encouraged to help their children complete a classroom scavenger hunt. At the end of the hunt, the parents were gently requested to join the rest of the school for a back to school coffee social while the children took up the familiar spot on the carpet for their orientation and story time.

All of the people were a bit overwhelming for Sam, so she hung back and sat to read a book by herself, but as the parents left the room I noticed her relax and she eagerly joined the group on the rug. Riley, on the otherhand, had eagerly joined in the scavenger festivities until two things happened: 1. Parents were asked to leave, and 2. another child had gotten into their lunch bag. Suddenly she was "hungry" and grabbed onto my neck wanting me to get her something to eat. Explaining that she would eat with the rest of the class when it was time was not sufficient. I gave her a hug and kiss, said, "I love you", but that was not enough for her. Her grasp only tightened so as not to let me go. To her teachers credit (and one of the reasons we love her already), she came over, gently asked Riley to join the group, and allowed her to stand right next to her chair which is where I left her. This time there were no tears from me, though many emotions were surging through my body. Does it mean I'm any less sad or excited than I was with my first? Absolutely not. It just means that I, we, they were much better prepared.

Endings lead to new beginnings

Friday the girls "graduated" from preschool. I could stop right there since that was the end of a story. A story of growth, development, independence, and letting go while still hanging on. However, it is also the beginning of a new story, one that I'm sure will expand on the previous tale.

My girls did not go to daycare. They did not go to preschool at an early age. For a long time I was determined to homeschool them in order to maintain our own schedule, their individual learning curve, and yes, a bit of control over what they're exposed to on my part. This past year I made the decision to go back to school for my masters (I haven't yet, but that's another story.) In order to accomplish that the girls would have to attend school. I spent a short amount of time exploring preschools near our house (distance was a factor), and finally selected one that may not have been at the top of other people's list, but gave me the warm fuzzies. I was not let down. The teachers are enthusiastic and truly care about the kids and their development. To say they are fabulous is an understatement. More importantly, the girls loved it. We didn't have a transition period as I feared. My greatest threat the past 9 months has been, "If you don't do "blank" then you're not going to school today". Let me tell you, they would snap to, and do whatever it was that needed getting done whether it was getting dressed, finishing their lunch without playing around, or changing their attitude. Despite being in the same class they gained some independence from each other (and from me.) They learned many things this year, but the most important is their current love for school. I hope that it continues for a long time.

The new beginning starts in two weeks. Their new school hosts a summer school/camp for two weeks in the summer. We've decided to enroll the girls as they seem to be having a difficult time with the idea of actually leaving their beloved preschool and moving on. They want to take their teachers with them. The good thing is that I also get that warm, fuzzy feeling from their kindergarten teacher, so I'm hoping the transition goes well. After the summer program we have about a month and a half off, and then elementary school (yikes, elementary school) begins along with the rigid schedules, homework, and even more independence that I was dreading. I'm sure it will be fine. I'm also sure that I will cry the first day of school as they run off to begin a new life, one without me there at their side.