This is Kindergarten!

 A few people have been asking me how the end of daycare and start of school went, and while I had the best of intentions to write this bit by bit over the last week and post on the weekend, my brain had other plans for us and that just didn’t happen! So, here is a synopsis of everything. 

Last day of daycare

While the Friday before was a whirlwind of unexplained (and possibly misplaced) emotions, the last minutes of her last day with her teacher went surprisingly well! When I got to the door, I rang the bell, but no one came so I thought maybe it hadn’t rung inside. I pressed it again and this time I heard it clearly. Still, no one. As I went to press it a 3rd time, around the corner came my smiling LO with a gift bag in her hands followed by a sobbing teacher! They shared a few more hugs before and she was finally handed over to me after I promised we would come back to visit.

Barely at the car, she remembered that I came to pick her up specifically when her teacher was leaving so she asked to say goodbye to her again by the garage. I messaged her teacher who said she would come immediately. So, for another 30 minutes or so they cuddled while we sat around laughing and talking – myself, DH, the LO and her teacher. A few more tears, but all went surprisingly well!

Later she was able to open her gift. A Llama mug and a hot chocolate that turns blue once added to the milk/water. Bleh!

Kindergarten Orientation

Thanks to Covid, only one parent was allowed to attend so I went with the LO. And, unfortunately, the visit was very brief and we didn’t get to see much of the school at all. A quick talk in the gym from her teacher, a walk up the stairs and through her classroom (literally, just a walk in one door and out the other), and then outside for questions if we had any. I have since learned that they have a music room, an art room, a media room and more – none of which we were able to see.

School - Day 1

No school! Yup, Kindergarten had progressive entry and we were Group B so she got to play hooky already! I worked for half a day and then we went to play mini putt as a family – her first time! She had a blast, but she cheats, enough said.

School - Day 2

Because of progressive entry, she started a bit later and ended at lunch time, so the days were short. We dropped her off in the morning and as soon as she entered the schoolyard, she was waving goodbye. Not a tear or fear at all!

I picked her up at lunch and she asked me if she could finish eating her snack in the car. I was surprised she had any left because I hadn’t packed much. That’s when she told me that she thought she had to save some of it for lunch! I felt horrible that I hadn’t made it clear that I was picking her up at lunchtime to go and have lunch together! We raced off to grab some takeout and hit the movies together in the afternoon.

School - Day 3

First things first, I made sure that she knew she could eat her whole snack that morning and that her Dad would be coming to pick her up for lunch! This time she understood.

And, once again, into the schoolyard she went without a care in the world. Once school was done, she came home for lunch and then went bowling with her Dad in the afternoon.

Not a bad way to start the school year!

School bus

She had been looking forward to riding the school bus for quite some time, but for some reason I was convinced she would be too afraid to do it alone once the day came. And, for one reason or another they put her bus stop in a weird spot, across a main street that we would need to cross both morning and night together, so even I was uncomfortable. I get my own bus there for work and it is not the best place to be, especially in the Winter when visibility is low, and the roads are icy. An issue to tackle that issue later.

Anyhow, we drove to the bus stop since it was the first day, just in case. If she didn’t get on, we could always drive her to school, and if she did go, then I planned to race over to the school to make sure that she was ok at the other end. I had told her that I would do that on her first day, but she had forgotten, and I decided that it would be better not to remind her.

We waited for quite some time and anytime she saw or heard a bus she asked if it was hers. They are never on time the first week, and even now in the second week they are still not on time. When it finally did come, she put on her mask and marched on the bus like a champ! She begged us to stay and wave goodbye, but she was so excited that she was looking out the wrong side of the bus when we did it!

I raced over to the school, beating the bus by a good 10 minutes, and hid by someone’s hedge. Looking around, I saw that I wasn’t the only parent doing this; parents all over were in their cars looking out their back windows like it was a stakeout. It was hilarious, actually!

And, now with her bus in plain sight, I spotted her and watched her get up out of her seat, politely let another kid walk out before her, go down the stairs on her own, and follow the directions given to her by the monitor on where to go. Again, no tears, no fears, no hesitations. She has no idea I was there, and that’s the way I am going to keep it. Maybe when she is graduating from High School I will show her the video I took of the whole thing.

Oh, and about that bus stop? We saw it turn right up the cross street to our house, so I have since had her stop moved to the corner. Why it wasn’t there in the first place is beyond me!