08.13.2008 | 10:50 pm | Everyday Life
School started back on Monday for most kids in this area. However, the kindergarten classes are on a staggered schedule this week, meaning that the kids only go one day this week with some kids going on Monday, some on Tuesday, some on Wednesday, etc. and have their first full week of school next week.
C went to his first day of kindergarten yesterday (8.12.2008). (And, no, I didn’t cry - although I did tear up as I was leaving his classroom yesterday morning…)
On Monday evening, C picked out his clothes for school and put them on the foot of his bed. We talked about what he wanted for snack time at school (Cheese-its) and lunch at school (leftover Sonic popcorn chicken, Lay’s potato chips, Kellogg’s Cars gummies, apple juice box, and a Rice Krispie Treat - he only ate a little of the chicken and his Cars gummies and drank water).
In a bar chair in the kitchen, sat C’s new Marvel Heroes backpack (with pictures of “the Thing” from Fantastic Four, Spiderman, The Incredible Hulk, etc.) and it was packed with all of his new school supplies —labeled with his name with custom made labels made by me that color coordinated with the item: ex. red name on label for red marker, blue name on label for blue marker… —, his rest mat and matching mat cover and blanket (made by Nana 
) folded atop his backpack. With all his items for the morning ready, I packed his lunch (sans the refrigerated items) and sat his lunch box open on the kitchen counter for quick finishing filling on Tuesday morning.
While I was tucking C in bed on Monday evening, we discussed the different parts of the school, like the cafeteria, gym, etc and talked about his teacher and new friends he would meet.
Tuesday morning arrived and C woke up in a great mood, although the sky was over cast and misting rain. Nana arrived to take J with her as I was going with C to school for the first couple of hours. Nana brought C some Chick-Fil-A Chicken Minis that he ate after he got a shower. C dressed himself except his socks and shoes and I put those on him while he played Lego Star Wars on the Xbox.
C was pretty quiet on the drive to school. Once we got parked and out of the car, C wanted to play on the school playground, but I didn’t want him to get dirty. Nor did I want us to be late for his first day. We went into the school and, as instructed by his teacher in our prior phone conversation, we passed by the bookstore and went in the cafeteria. I immediately saw Jake’s mom and we sat with her (Melody) and Jake. About five minutes later the principal and kindergarten teachers came in the cafeteria and the principal requested that we stand for a moment of silence and the Pledge of Allegiance. The Star Spangled Banner also played and we sang to it. Then came announcements and we were allowed to sit.
The principal gave a brief welcome speech and then the kindergarten teachers were introduced to us and they called the names of the children to come to them. I walked with C and he got his name tag on his shirt. There were 4 boys present for the Tuesday first day of kindergarten in C’s class - C, Jake, Jonathan, and another name I can’t remember right now (note to myself to ask C in the morning and I will replace this spot with the correct name). We followed Mrs. R to the classroom and she showed the kids where to sit and we parents picked empty seats to occupy. C sat at a table with Jonathan. There were seats and name places for 5 boys at his table. Sixteen kids are currently enrolled in C’s class - a really good ratio of teacher to children.
While we parents filled out a 1 page questionnaire for the teacher, Mrs R. welcomed the children. We then went through the supplies and prepared a ziplock bag as instructed with their school supplies that they will use initially. The kids were then told to sit on a carpeted area and Mrs. R read a book called The Kissing Hand. It is a book that we have and is about a little raccoon named Chester that is about to leave his home to go to school for the first time. Chester is nervous and his mom takes Chester’s hand and kisses the palm and tells Chester that no matter how often he washes his hand, the kiss will stay there and he can remember that his mom is thinking about him. Right before Chester leaves for school, he takes his mom’s hand and kisses it, too. The story is really sweet and easily understood for little people and old people alike. During story time, Mrs. R interjected some easy questions to the kids and after story time was craft time.
For the craft, the parent traced the child’s hand and then the child colored the drawing of the hand, colored a heart on the bottom of the page, cut the heart out and glued it with a glue stick to the hand. C’s hand was colored with marker mostly blue. C chose to color the heart with a little bit of color from each marker. In doing this, I realized that the red marker was dried out. (It was very frustrating to see this, as this was a new package -and was part of the school supplies that I purchased from the school!) I quickly traded the marker for the red in his other package of markers. I’m sure this is why the school supply list required 2 packages of markers - because they get used up/dry out quickly.
On the table that C sat at, was a wire basket. We found out that this basket was for scrap paper to reduce the foot traffic in the classroom of kids going to/from the trash can. Excellent idea!
We then followed Mrs. R on a tour of the school. This lasted quite awhile as other teachers (librarian, art, music, Spanish, gym, etc.) were introduced to the children. The kids are also going to learn sign language for the alphabet this year. I’m looking forward to learning it with C.
During the tour, C held tightly onto my hand or to my arm. He, every now and then, let go and I could see his independence emerging, but it was not dominate. (C sat in my lap during the story time and wanted me to take a larger role than I did for his craft - I only traced his hand, and insisted that he cut the heart out and do all the coloring.)
After returning to the classroom, it was snack time. The parents were told to give the kids a hug and then the kids were to get their snack out of their backpacks/lunch bags. C gave me a tight hug and then went off with Jonathan to get his snack. He and Jonathan had their backpacks next to each other on the far side of the room. C didn’t even give me another look. After a minute I asked him if he could find his snack, that it was the Cheese-its. C’s reply was, “I know, Mom. I got it.” and then he went back to chatting with Jonathan. I left the classroom with one last look and walked out into the hallway with the other moms - with a knot in my throat and tears in my eyes.
C was to stay at school for the rest of the day and then be dismissed with the car riders as I was picking him up on Tuesday. Next week, C will start to ride the bus to and from school.
When it was time for me to go get C, I had to wake up J from his nap. We got in the car and drove to school and waited in the car line. When it was C’s turn, he got in the car and seemed a little more grown up than when he woke up that same morning.
In the car, C started talking quickly that Jonathan had a rocket blaster that he told C that he could have and that we needed to go to Jonathan’s house RIGHT NOW! I asked C if he knew Jonathan’s house number, address, phone number, Mom’s name, etc. and each answer was a negative, but followed by an insistent, “but, I know he lives near us and we can go now.” I assured him that he would see Jonathan on Monday and that all would be fine. I was relieved that C had made a new friend that was into Legos and Transformers as well.
C’s backpack returned home without his school supplies as Mrs. R must have put them away. C’s daily planner, which all the kids at the school have, did return home as did his Communications folder. In the Communications folder were two other colorings that C did during the day, in addition to the kissing hand paper - one of a school house with “My first day of kindergarten at ___ school” and the date of “August 18, 2008.” C colored the schoolhouse red. The other picture was of a school bus with bears as the driver/riders. C colored it like a hippie bus. Very colorful. All the papers had smiley faces on them from Mrs. R.
After school I needed to do some brief errands and then asked C if he wanted to go to a park for awhile, as it was “C’s Day.” C told me that he wanted to go back to school and play on the playground since he didn’t get to this morning. So, that is exactly what we did. J had a great time as well. While we were there, I saw a friend of mine from high school that teaches at C’s school and we talked for awhile. A bit later I saw Mrs. R leaving school and she waved and drove over near the playground and told C that she hoped he had a good day like she did, or something like that. I thought it was really nice for her to make contact with C instead of just driving off. Real classy and sweet of her.
Not much later, C’s hand slipped on the monkey bars and he fell and knocked his head. He now has a red mark and still a knot the size of a quarter today. Poor C was absolutely exhausted. The kids did have a rest time, but C didn’t fall asleep. He did sleep VERY good Tuesday night.
I hope C has everyday at school as good as his first day of kindergarten.
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08.10.2008 | 8:58 pm | Everyday Life
Last week C, J and I went to our neighborhood school to register C for kindergarten. It was not a long process, but in registering for school, we did get to see the cafeteria, gymnasium, main hallways, restrooms, and the very low water fountains (so perfect for short people!).
Today was promotion Sunday for Sunday School and C is now in a kindergarten class. J moved up to the 4 year old class and will start back M-W-F pre-school after Labor Day.
As C is now in a kindergarten Sunday School, he will come into the worship service with us after his Sunday School class for the worship service (as opposed to childcare - we don’t have a children’s church). Yesterday evening I brought C to church so I could give him a tour of the worship center in preparation for today. It was only the two of us in the worship center and he got to check out the pews and hymnals, offertory plates, stand on the stage and walk around in the choir loft. I showed him the baptismal waters and the big drums in the orchestra pit. We also walked around the balcony and I showed C the sound booth. It was very informative and I think it helped answer some of the questions that C was bound to have getting to be in the worship service for “big church.”
This afternoon after church, C, J and I had lunch with Nana and Pop. Then C and I went to his school for an Open House. (Thanks Nana and Pop for keeping J - it helped me focus solely on C!) At the Open House, C and I got to peek in his classroom door and meet his teacher. All the classrooms were locked, as to not mess anything up, I guess. The kindergarten kids only go 1 day this week. C will go on Tuesday. At the Open House we met another little boys and his parents. Jake, as it turns out, lives just around the corner from us and will be in C’s class and will ride the bus with C. I hope they like each other. Jake will be at school on Tuesday with C. I’ll try to arrange a play date this week with his mom to help both boys form a “buddy system.” If nothing else, it will give me a mom to call on if I have questions this year.
On Tuesday we will bring all of C’s school supplies and I will go to school with C for the first hour and a half, then I will leave and C will stay for the remainder of the day, until school lets out. I will pick him up on Tuesday afternoon in the car pick-up line. However, starting next Monday, C will ride the bus to and from school. (Other parents have told me that the bus gets to our neighborhood quickly - more quickly than if we picked the kids up after school.) An added bonus to C riding the bus is that the bus unloads at the front door of the school and the teachers line the kids up by bus number to make sure the kids get on the right bus. C plays with other neighborhood kids that ride the bus, so I think he will do fine. (C has already told me that he will walk to the bus stop “all by myself without you (mom).” I informed him that if Mrs. Jill (one of my friends and the mom of kids C plays with) can walk to the bus stop, so can I.
At the Open House, C and I walked around the hallways and met a few of the kindergarten teachers in addition to his teacher. We saw his name on the yellow school bus outside his classroom door and C enjoyed a long drink of water from the short water fountains (yes, he had to try out more than one!). I showed him the library and the bookstore - he wanted some money to buy something, anything. We also got to see the principal again. As soon as we walked in the building, she greeted us BY NAME - me AND C!!!! We are off to a great start!
As C and I were leaving the Open House, I asked C if he wanted to see anything else or had any questions. He said that it was a “scary house, not an open house.” This was the first time that I have heard him verbalize an emotion, other than the “I’m (physically) hurt.” To ease his mind, I have written out a sheet of paper, and laminated it, with my contact information and that of Dad at work and both Grandmothers - Nana and Grandma. I have explained it to him, but until he experiences the first full weeks of school, he won’t understand what I am doing for him, or why (and maybe not until he is grown…)
This evening I took the boys to the swimming pool. On the way home, we passed the street where C’s school is. C started talking about riding his bike to school and how old he needs to be to start doing this. Sweet boy, let’s take this one step at a time. Mommy can’t handle too many big steps - and you are growing up way too fast! C, just promise me that you will still give me hugs and your sweet smile and I’ll be happy forever. (Can’t keep typing, my eyes are starting to fill with tears… 
)
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08.7.2008 | 7:33 pm | Everyday Life
This evening we (me, B, C and J) went to the town water park with B’s sister and her family. (B’s sister, Co, and her family have been visiting this week. Co’s family consist of Mommy Co, Daddy Cr, and 5 boys - L, Z, J, M, and N.)
At the water park, the kids were enjoying the water puddles, sprays of water and we had brought water guns with us to share.
As is common with siblings, when they were younger B and his sister Co used to wrestle each other. Co was known for her windmill type of “boxing.” (Think of arms swinging around and around with hands in a fist. It is quite effective.) However, anytime anyone gets near B’s neck, B is conquered. Just a few facts to set-up this post.
As we were leaving, B filled up a water gun and attempted to attack his sister. Co retaliated with some Judo moves that she has learned. In the middle of the fight, B calls a “time-out.” Seems that his glasses have fallen off.
Old people just don’t fight well.
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08.3.2008 | 7:23 pm | Everyday Life
This morning we went to church and then this afternoon C had a special class at church. Next Sunday is promotion Sunday for the school year. As C is going into kindergarten, he is moving into the children’s area of the church, out of the preschool area.
For the special class for the children entering kindergarten, Mr. Steve taught them about “Big Church.” I thought some of the things he told them were not only good information, but also comical. One rule was that “We don’t take money or papers out of the offering plate, but put money into it.” Good rule for little ones. The kids also learned about the different parts of the service - hearing the Bible being read and reading it ourselves, singing, and sitting in the pews.
The parents had a class as well. Our class was more practical information, but stuff that we might not think about - like taking the kids for a tour of the sanctuary this week (using words that they may not know and defining the new words - such as hymnal, pulpit, baptismal pool, service bulletin, etc.), before they come into Big Church with us, or helping the kids make a book marker for their Bibles this week, so we as parents can show the children the place in the Bible that the preacher is teaching from, and telling them the different parts of the service where we stand/sit/greet others.
At the end of our class, Mr. Steve brought the kids into our class and the kids received their first real Bibles (NIV version) that should take them through 5th grade, in addition to kid sized bags to carry their Bibles and artwork from Sunday School.
Oooh, my baby is growing up.
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08.3.2008 | 7:01 pm | Everyday Life
Okay, this is the last post of our beach vacation that details the days (unless I think of something that needs to be mentioned). However, future posts won’t be novels, I expect.
Friday morning dawned and I wasn’t ready to get up (What’s new?!). I had been up late the night before packing for us to go home. It is so much easier packing by myself instead of when the kids are “helping.” That Friday morning my mom requested that I let J play on the beach with his new roller (think paving machine). The roller was about 7 inches long, plastic, yellow and made noises. I had packed the roller since J had acted bad with it and I had told him that he could have it back, once we got home. (Karma is grand…you’ll see.) I told her which suitcase it was packed in and J took it to the beach. I came down to the beach a little bit later and watched the boys and Nana and Pop and B building sand castles. Pop built a really fancy sand castle that had a tunnel running under it.
After some family pictures and one last walk in the waves, we told the boys that it was time to go back to the hotel room to clean up, have breakfast, and head towards home. J said that he couldn’t find his roller. I asked him where it was and J replied, “I buried it.” (see… karma!) I raked my feet through 10 square feet of sand and didn’t find it. We think J put it in the tunnel of Pop’s fancy sand castle and then demolished the sand castle. Oh, well. Some kids will get a very happy surprise one day.
The boys went back to the hotel with Nana and Pop and Nana got the kids cleaned up and dressed - I had laid out their travel clothes the night before when I was packing. B and I then walked along the beach for awhile hand in hand.
After we got checked out of the hotel, we drove to ride the ferry that runs in Mobile Bay between Fort Morgan and Dauphin Island. This was the one thing that I wanted to do on our vacation. I specifically packed six snack size bags of Cheetos for this occasion. Last year when we rode the ferry some people had Cheetos and were throwing them up in the air and the sea gulls would catch the Cheetos in mid-air. It was so cool! This year was my turn to feed the sea gulls and I had a BLAST!
The ferry took us to Dauphin Island. It was lunch time and we were getting hungry. We started looking for restaurants and found one quickly, but it appeared to be more for the people that worked on the shrimp boats and other boats in the area. So, we kept looking for a place to eat. I look up from my book as B puts on his brakes at a restaurant. All I see is “Topless” and “Bar.” I screamed out, “It’s a topless place.” B starts going again and then stops to turn around. He tells me that it had a sign out front that said, “Family dining.” I’m hesitant to comment again at this point, having made my thought known. As we turn around, I do see the family banner, but am still quite unsure.
We pull into the parking lot (made of crushed oyster shells, with a fresh pile in the middle of the parking lot - I’m guessing from the prior day’s servings) and park. As we are getting out of the car (my parents were following us in their car), Pop calls out - with a laugh, “I guess we are taking the kids to the first topless bar. The whole name of the restaurant is “Topless Oyster Raw Bar & Grill.” It was a really good restaurant. Nana got the crab cakes that she was wanting and Pop and I just had some ice cream, as we had had a really good breakfast at the hotel and didn’t want a lot to eat. The boys had chicken tenders that were really good - I had told the boys that they had to eat at least one chicken tender before they had got some ice cream, so I had a chicken tender as well. As we were leaving I noticed that they had shirts for sale. Needless to say I got a shirt from the topless bar. My parents joked that I shouldn’t wear it to church…
The ride home was uneventful with the exception of a few, “I need to go potty” and “When are we going to be home” questions/comments. We didn’t caravan with my parents, as they chose to do some shopping at the antique malls and we needed to find a store to get B some new tennis shoes. We did however manage to pick the same McDonald’s for dinner by complete chance, no planning/cell phones involved. We got there as Nana and Pop were finishing their dinner. So, we got to have one last meal together.
Thanks Nana and Pop for a great vacation. Want to make this a yearly tradition (rhetorical question, wishful thinking out loud)? Without all the problems - car battery, bike problem, etc. I promise this time I won’t wear my glasses into the ocean!
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