Kindergarten, Day One: The adventure begins

So here's the thing: there is no reliable way to know exactly what happened on a given day. What you get are fragments, and like an archaeologist digging for shards in the sand, you must piece it together bit by dusty bit.

You can know, for example, that he woke up protesting that he wanted to stay home, that the reluctance turned to curiosity tempered with fear that school might be "too loud," that he ended up running inside and plopping down with the other kids at morning circle, just like he owned the place.

You can get a partial account from one of his therapy team, who said he had "a really good day." You can hear that he colored, and learned to raise his hand and tell the teacher when he was all done, and that even though he was distracted at first, he loved learning to sing in different languages.

You can hear that the teacher was attentive and looked over her shoulder frequently to make sure he was okay.

You can discover that his lunch was left untouched and that he wolfed it down on the bus ride home. You can wonder what's up with that: how to find out what happened, what to do about it.

You can make a conscious choice to hang back for a few days, let the teachers find their feet, then ask what you can do to help ease his (and their) transition. Because, no matter what, you want to help. And you refuse to become that mom.

You can see that he was a little crabby at the end of the day; tired, but generally himself, and that he bounced back after a light dinner and a few pages of Hop on Pop.

You can hope, have faith in your kid and his teachers; you can choose to be optimistic and relaxed, but also clear and firm. And then you realize:

Holy crap. This is only the beginning.

And then you take a deep breath, and another one, and hold it, and slowly, slowly exhale.

Comments

[Giovanni Rodriguez]

Sounds like progress to me. Congrats to you and Isaac.

[Jordan]

I'd say that sounds like a very good first day. Congratulations to Isaac and you! What a brave kiddo, marching in there and sitting in the circle. I think your approach is wise and will win you friends among the school team. You'll have plenty to offer them soon enough, I'm sure.

[Niksmom]

Sounds like it was, overall, a pretty successful day. :-) In keeping with the archeology theme...it's kind of like not knowing if you're going to find the ancient pharoa's tomb or get stung by a scorpion...but it's always exciting! ;-)

[drama mama]

No one peed their pants or had a meltdown?

Sounds golden to me.

Mazel Tov, to all of you.

[Susan E]

Drama, do you mean including me or not? Because, like, there are limits.

[Kia]

Boy oh boy, does this post ever make me think of my own son. He too is anxious about starting school, but there's a very real possibility that he'll be totally fine. Or not. You just never know.
Thankfully, we've found a place where our son can go to school for half days, so he doesn't have to "not" eat his lunch. Otherwise, he'd be eating his on the way home at the end of the day, too. Sigh.

Glad to hear that your/his first day went as well as it did!

[drama mama]

Either/or, honey.

No small animals harmed? No running away? No opening doors?

Good day.

Period.

And that goes for the parents, too.

xo

[cry it out!]

I'd say that sounds like a great day too! I hope things go well after the break!

[Emily]

I'm voting good day here. Sounds like it to me. But it is only the beginning. The words "roller coaster" come to mind.