Figuring It Out As We Go: He's in Kindergarten!

Benjamin officially started school last week. Would have blogged earlier, but was still struggling with MAC vs PC issues. Have solved them by sending the Mac back to it's home at Amazon. Bye bye Mac. Our relationship was a brief but educational one. You may have way funny commercials, but sadly you are not for me.

Anyway, back to Benjamin. He loves school and his teacher and the bus. He couldn't be happier. I, on the other hand, have needed a little more adjustment time. The night before school started, he slept like a rock and I was up until 3:30am stressing over catching the bus on time, remembering to make a snack in the morning, and a thousand other things which now seem really silly but seemed tantamount in the middle of the night. Then this whole week I've been struggling to remember that school is EVERY day now. You mean I have to drag all the kids to the bus stop EVERY morning? You mean I have to pack snacks and organize a backpack EVERY day now?? I got way too used to the M,W,F schedule of preschool.

That first morning, I sent him on the bus (so stressed and sleep deprived that I forgot to take a picture of him getting on the bus!!!), and then jumped in the van with the other kids and followed it to school. Wasn't until I was driving that I remembered the camera, so this is the picture I got of the bus that day! :)

Wanted to take a pic of him getting off, but the parking lot was so crammed crazy that I never found a spot. He got off the bus and I was still driving around. I finally parked up the street a 1/2 block and ran with with stroller and the other two all the way back. By then he was completely lost, wandering around the building with the look of a kid about to lose emotional control. I hurried up to him and led him to where he needed to go (why weren't any teachers helping poor little Kindergarterners who were getting off the bus for the first time in their lives?!!?!) and noticed he didn't have his backpack. He'd forgotten it on the bus! So we raced back to where the buses were, but it was gone. His nerves got to him and he started clinging to my leg and sucking his fingers like a toddler. I pried him free and assured him that he was going to be okay. After that we snapped a quick picture sans backpack and made it to his classroom.

Once his teacher started class, he seemed better. Still a bit dazed and shell-shocked, but fine with me leaving.

After the first day, things improved. He got his backpack back, he never left it on the bus again, he learned how to get to class on his own, he went to music class and the library, had snack, etc. He has made a couple friends and has found that he likes the "cozy area where you can sit and read books" the best. I'm excited for him. I'm still floored that they have 26 kids and 1 teacher in there. You can barely even identify him in the swarm on the carpet! But don't get me started on the problems with public school. It's what we're doing for now and we'll make the best of it. He's very happy and his teacher seems really great. We're excited for a wonderful year.

As for my darling preschooler - Isabella has been so much fun lately. The older she gets, the more of a fun personality she develops. I don't know how to explain the transformation, but she's simply less of a snotty two-year old and more of a mature, fun, witty preschooler. (She starts in 2 days!) I love hanging out with her. This past week she started ballet lessons. She's been waiting anxiously for months. On the way to class a conversation that so perfectly illustrates my kids' personalities occurred.

Benjamin: Are you nervous or excited for your ballet class?
Isabella: I'm excited!! (as she bounces in her seat, barely able to contain said excitement)
Benjamin: I'd be nervous.
Isabella: Why?? I LOVE ballet!

I have never seen Bella so happy as she was in that class. She didn't stop grinning the entire time. She was absolutely in her element amongst all the girly girls in pink, twirling around. Her teacher is one of those pure ballet beauties whose every move seems fluid and choreographed. Bella was smitten. She stared at her teacher in rapt amazement and followed her every move. I could have watched her all day too. She was fabulous with the kids too - clearly the teacher, but also really girly along with them, giggling over their new tutus, etc. The hardest part for Bella is waiting a whole week to have another class. Hopefully next week I'll be able to get better pictures. Took a lot, but none really turned out well.

Some other funny Bella pics:Bella after she snuck into my private stash of non-washable markers, but before she realized they were non-washable. (So sad I didn't get a pic of her reaction when the purple on her face didn't wash off!! Two days of purple mustash and tatooed arm.)