First Day of Kindergarten

Today was the big day!   My little man got himself up, got himself dressed, brushed his teeth and was all ready to go!     I made him some banana pancakes and while those were cooking he had himself a bowl of cereal as well.   He was all set to run outside and take his pictures in front of the house and then we were off - all four of us - to drop Ace off on his very first day of school!

A grand adventure awaits!

We stopped on campus and grabbed a few pictures since we were early enough and then we went to where drop off will be every day.   He found his class line and got in it.   Both Loving Husband and I took turns talking to him, his sister and him hugged each other.    Ace in general was nervous and trying to expel that by jumping up and down, but he did good to stay in his place.   He didn't really talk to the other kids around him, but could be because he was occupied with his own family. ;)

 

One last time before he headed off to his class I stopped and he and I prayed together.   I asked him if he wanted to pray and he at first said "Nah"  and then immediately said "Well, yah."   So I said a quick prayer with him and the he and his class walked off toward his class and the three of us headed home.  I didn't cry until we were nearly home and I was talking to Loving Husband about how it seems like not that long ago he was so little and now he's big enough to be off to kindergarten!  

Two hours and 45 minutes (Yes, that's all "half day" kindergarten is!)  go by very quickly, but this mama was eager to get back to the school to find out how he had done!    I arrived with Mae and her and I waited for brother (who she missed a lot!) to come out.  As Ace came out of the building he was leading the class and being ever so watchful of his teacher and what he had to do and where to go.    After everyone was out of the building his teacher told him to make point and make eye contact with mom, he got to give his teacher a high five, and then he was dismissed to me.       I had not yet obtained the 'sitting at his desk' picture and so we waited until the rest of the kids were dismissed to then go back to his classroom with his teacher.

While we were waiting for his teacher to put some of his classmates onto the buses I asked him about his day.   Here are a few of our conversations:

Me:   Did you have a good day?
A:  Yes, I loved it! 
Me:  What did you do? 
A:  Well, we didn't get to go outside.
Me:  Well, that's ok.  I am sure you will on a different day.  What else did you do?
A:  We colored, that was my favorite part, and we listened to a story.
Me:  What book did you read?
A:  {{Answered with the full name of the book that mommy no longer can recall but was thematically themed for the first day of school}}
Me:   Did you like it? 
A:   Well, sure.  I was a bit distracted.
Me:  Oh, why is that?  
A:  Well, the oldest kid in the class [Maybe he's the biggest?  Not sure how Ace determined he's the oldest] was very naughty today.  He was having a hard time.
Me:  Oh?
A:  Yah during story time he was under the desks knocking down all the chairs and then he got his own book and then kept saying a naughty word over and over [Groan, first day really???]
Me: [Cautiously]  Um which one?
A: [Whispering]  Stupid.   He kept saying it over and over and wouldn't stop when Mrs. A said to.
Me:  I'm sorry, what did you do? 
A:  I tried to keep listening to the story.
Me:  That is good.  What else did you do today?
A:  We wrote out our names and colored.    That same kid ripped some one's paper during that part of class too.  I don't know why he was being so naughty!
Me:  Well, sounds like he was having a hard time adjusting and wasn't sure how best to handle himself.
A:  Hmm, yah, I guess. [Not convinced.]
Me:  Anything else exciting?
A:  We got goldfish for a snack!! [Eyes super big while he jumped up and down.]
Me:  Neat!  Do you want to go run around for a bit?  [He was gone before he could answer.]

After he and his sister ran around for a while longer, his teacher finished loading up the kids and we all headed back to the classroom after posing for a picture with his teacher.  He humored me by taking a picture at his desk, it went ok - but he was clearly done with photo-ops.   He is half his father after all - who is always done with photo-ops.  ;)      We headed home and he continued to tell me stories. 

Me:   What was your favorite part about kindergarten? 
A:  Getting to color.  I stayed in the lines the whole time.  Some other kids... did not.  
Me:  That's great that you did!   Did you meet anyone today?
A:  We all learned our names and our teacher wrote things on the board about how we were feeling about kindergarten.
Me:  What did you say?  
A:  I said I was curious. 
Me:  That's a good thing to feel.

After getting home and washing our hands - we started to load up into the car to head to meet dad for lunch and as we drove we sporadically continued to talk about school.

A:  So today I tried to help someone get their name tag off the paper and they took it from me and yelled.
Me:  What did you say when you had their name tag?
A:  I said "I can help you with that"  They were having trouble getting theirs off and I had already put mine on, so I was going to help but then they just snatched it from me.
Me:  Well, maybe they didn't understand you were trying to help.   How did you feel after they took it back from you?
A:  Fine. 
Me:  Well that is good that you didn't let it bother you.   Maybe next time it would be better to offer to help before you take it so no one feels you are trying to take it away. 
A:  Yah, that's a good idea.

Me:  Did you introduce yourself to anyone today and say "Nice to meet you!"? 
A:  No, I wasn't quite ready to say that to anyone yet today.  Maybe another day. 

Me: [My own self curious] So how did you get to be the first one in line?
A:  Well, the teacher said that whoever was first in line would get to give her a high five when they got picked up and so I wanted to have the high five so I got in  line first. 
Me:  Neat!  

Overall, he had a great day at kindergarten and is excited to return tomorrow.   Overall a very successful first day of school! 

Ace was very proud of his coloring. 
Both Loving Husband and I were super impressed with his pencil coloring!