Adventures in Mommyhood: Kindergarten

Today was Will's 1st day of kindergarten. He was, by all accounts, absolutely ready. He was happy, confident, and excited as we went in today. J & I both took him to school, walked in and got him settled (along with virtually every other parent at the school - those poor teachers!). He immediately started working on the activities set out for him. They had a short day today - 11 a.m. dismissal. J & I picked him up. Will immediately says "It was good. I'll tell you everything we did when we get in the car." I'm sure he could tell we were anxious to hear. He then proceeded to give us nearly a moment by moment account (including bathroom breaks, what he did at recess, the birthday treat from a classmate, etc.). Tomorrow will be his first full day, so that will be more telling, but I have no reason to think he won't love it. And, he gets to take his lunch, which he is totally excited about.

I must admit that I've had some anxiety over all this. Mostly coming from my own anxiety about new places and new experiences (this seems to have heightened as I've gotten older - weird). His calmness made my anxiety subside substantially today. He was happy. I was happy. Of course, I still worry about little things - what if he can't open the containers in his lunch box? Can he unbuckle and buckle his own belt at bathroom breaks? (Answer: No, the skinny kid just pulls his shorts down, still buttoned and belt still buckled. Whatever - I guess it worked.) Until he becomes worried or anxious, I'll just enjoy his happiness and love of this new adventure. I told J last night that I did look around and think about who might be a life-long friend that he might meet for the first time today. Both J & I have friends from our kindergarten days. It's fun to think about Will starting some relationships like that.

Will's teacher seems great. She enjoys teaching kindergarten - how can she not be great? We went to school supply drop off last week and Will got to meet her then. He put his supplies away, checked out his locker and the classroom. We paid fees, signed up for who knows what, and then were on our way. W was telling J about it when we got home and J asked how many kids were in his class. "Well, there were 3 groups of 6 desks and 1 group of 5." He was right. I saw the class list and knew there were 23 kids. Will's mathematical little mind noticed the groupings of desks. We hadn't discussed this while we were there and I wouldn't have come up with that at all after spending the exact same amount of time in there. His little brain is so fascinating to me.

The obligatory 1st day photos follow. He was a good sport about taking so many pictures. I also asked him a couple questions that I'll hopefully remember to ask at the start of each school year.

Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?
W: A football player. For Kansas. [hey! he might be good enough :)] But I'm not sure after that. Maybe I'll play for the Chiefs. [He's a homer, no doubt.]

Me: What do you hope to learn this year?
W: How to read super long chapter books. [Hmm...this doesn't seem like something on the kindergarten docket....but who knows, maybe it will happen!]