School Days

Transitioning to "Phase II" is going well and aside from all the complaints from my previous post, all really is well.  I have quite a bit of catching up to do.

Boy O started Kindergarten a week after moving in.  He was incredibly excited and I was incredibly scared, but after registering him for school, I left feeling much more comfortable and somewhat impressed.  All day Kindergarten, small class sizes, separate music, art, computer, physical education classes...it is more than I can give him here at home.  Activities began even before class officially started-a school parade, meet-your-teacher night...it was good for the parents as well as the students and Boy O was no exception.

Meeting the school mascot on back-to-school night:

The big day-Boy O woke us up at 5:32 am, dressed and ready to go.  He also complained of a bad stomachache and it took quite a bit of convincing along with a small serving of pepto bismol to eat some breakfast. 

Breakfast:

Walking to school as a family (we are only one block away!):

Confessions?  Here are a couple: 1) I ran into to the school counselor at the boo hoo breakfast for parents, hosted by the school (I did not boo hoo, but I did come close) and made her promise to check in on Boy O at some point during the day.  I bet you anything there is an asterisk in Boy O's file noting that she needs to check on me at some point. 2) I found myself taking Baby O on a 'walk' to the neighborhood park, which is located just beyond the elementary school and watched Boy O for a half hour at recess from a quarter mile away.  I knew he would be easy to spot in his bright yellow and blue striped shirt and it was good to see him flit around the playground, having the time of his life.

I love hearing about his day at school when we pick him up at the end of the day, I love hearing new vocabulary, new names and the goings-on during recess.  I especially love listening to him use his teacher's words in his conversations, for example: "Mom, I made good choices today", or "So and so had to be separated today" and the best was when he told me, "Mom, did you know that the nurse at school doesn't give shots?  She told me she wouldn't give me one! Isn't that great?"

As I suspected, Baby O adjusted quickly to the extra one-on-one time and has become a great, if somewhat demanding running partner, insisting on stanza after stanza of the 'peanut butter' song and 'Mary had a little lamb'.  Both boys are enjoying their new freedoms and schedules-three weeks in and Boy O continues to be up and dressed by six o'clock in the morning, skips all the way to school, and barely gives us a glance as we wave goodbye from the hallway.  Day by day things are falling into place and becoming more familiar.  Now if I could just find which box the lampshade is in and where my bowls are...