After all of those posts about Oliver, I thought I’d better write an update on his first week of Kindergarten.
This is how he felt about that first morning:
And this is how I find him every day when school lets out:
I have to say – for all of the worrying we do about Oliver and transitions, he is kind of a superstar. It’s always hard for him at first, but he assimilates so quickly. And in a highly structured environment where he knows what to expect, he thrives (i.e. school is better for him than hanging around with his disorganized mother all summer).
He was very comical that first day. I didn’t say much about going to school for fear of starting the avalanche of anxiety, and I didn’t even try the bus that morning since I knew the chaos and waiting around was just a recipe for disaster. Instead, Chris went to work late so we could drive him over and take him in ourselves. The one block walk from the car to the school felt like death row. He was mildly resistant, but ultimately resigned. I half expected the other children we passed to start clanging metal mugs against bars to the cry of “dead man walking!” He kept a running stream of quiet comments going: “No school today…no Kindergarten…no thank you…let’s go home now…” But he was just going through the motions. He saw the writing on the wall.
We had visited his classroom the week prior (which was fairly successful as far as my very low expectations were concerned – he didn’t get upset but stayed in the doorway for the duration). So he knew exactly where we were going and just walked in without any drama. After a quick hello to his teacher, that would have been our cue to make a fast exit, but OH NO…Dad had to make a special goodbye splash: “Okay buddy – have a GREAT day! I’ll see you when I get back from work tonight. Have fun today!” Then Oliver’s stoic front crumbled and he dissolved into tears. Nice work Chris. Rookie…
But of course, after a little attention, he was just fine and really did have a GREAT day. By morning #3, he was asking “can I go to school now?” So I think we’re in the clear. Yeah – he still likes school! Now we just have to worry about his academic performance and ability to make friends. Sigh… Baby steps I guess.
In the midst of all of this new Kindergartner hoopla, I also had to make two more trips out to Bethesda (during rush hour traffic) for Oliver’s last two sessions of auditory processing therapy (which has been fairly magical for us), go to a couple of orientation events for the twins’ preschool (which starts on Wednesday) AND do a home visit with the preschool teacher. Of course I completely forgot about the home visit and was totally unprepared when she arrived on my doorstep. The good news is that I had recently cleaned the house so she didn’t walk into the usual scene of chaos and squalor. The bad news is that I had JUST sent the twins downstairs to watch a movie while I did a little work and Eleanor was in her underwear. I’m all about the good first impression.
That same day, Oliver took the bus home (which he will do Monday-Thursday every week – Fridays I’ll pick him up to go to a play therapy appointment). He was HIGH-LARIOUS and was so excited to race off the bus to see us that he forgot his backpack. A nice older student brought it out to us though – so no chasing after the bus for me (like I would ever do that! I’d send him to school with a paper Trader Joe’s bag before I suffered that humiliation).
We did encounter a little mishap on Friday when I forgot to mention to his teacher that he wouldn’t have the Friday therapy appointment that particular week and should just take the bus. After watching every child in the neighborhood scamper down the bus stairs, I realized my error. Luckily, I have very “takes a village” neighbors, so I told my friend Diane to watch the twins and ran for my car. Since the school is approximately 45 seconds away this wasn’t THAT big of a deal, and the teacher seemed to believe me when I said that I’m really not a neglectful parent… We’ll just hope that all of the low bar setting I’m doing will serve me well in the long run.
Saturday we went to a Catholic U. football game, and Oliver loved it. We only stayed for an hour of course due to limited attention spans (and I’m not just talking about the kids), but we took a couple of cute pictures.
Nothing to report on Sunday which was pretty quiet and housebound due to inclement weather. But lazy days have their charm as well. At least for lazy people. Which we are. Lazy, I mean.
Coming up this week: The twins’ first day of preschool and MY first day of working at the preschool (it’s a co-op). Wish us all luck!
Sounds like a success to me!
Yay! Hurray for Oliver adjusting so beautifully! So often the anticipatin of a change is so much more stressful than the change itself. That, and at least in my case I sometimes (ok, often) find that I've underestimated M, expecting her to react like the very fragile, anxious, screaming child she was a few years ago when she's really a wonderfully well-adapted and much older child now, without all those issues, and the ones that are left being much more minor. Her biggest complaint after starting 1st grade (the first year of "big school" here)? The fact that her best friend was being too clingy and not giving her a chance to play with other kids! (Oh. My. God.)
Here's to a great year to the whole lot of them.
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Well he's off to a great start! I'm glad it went so well.
Totally awesome report all around Kate! Love the photos and so glad Oliver is adjusting so well. Fiona starts her one morning a week of preschool/mother's morning out this week, and I'm a tad nervous. She hates to let me out of her sight line! Argh!
Great job, Oliver! (and Mom, too!)
So glad to hear that Oliver loves school and taking the bus home! That picture of him showing how he ended his first week of K is the most gorgeous photo of him to date. what a handsome little boy!
Go Oliver! And Mama Kate! Sounds like he is off to a great start. Can't wait to hear more about the co-op school too. I hear they rock!
PS My word verification nousperm. HA! Sorry. I'm apparently ready for kidnergarten too…
This is great news, Kate! Yay! I'm so happy for you…for all of you.
Glad to hear he did ok. My little monkey went into K all sad because none of his little pre-school buddies were going to his school. He's getting over it though.
I don't think you could have hoped for a better week for him. I'm so glad he had a good week!
Yay! I am so happy I could burst! This is such an auspicious beginning to a school year. Woohoooo!
So glad that he's doing so well!!
Ah, perfect. How nice to hear he's doing so well.
Incidentally, my attention span for football is about 5 minutes. If that.
Go Oliver! And if you're all about the first impression, then revel in his first impression of kindergarten. Good luck with twins and your co-oping (? cooping? coop-ing?). Wait — how about coping. That'll work.
Congrats on the great start.
The kids are all smiles here as well when the school day (pre and regular) is over as well.
Love the big happy smile! So glad things are going well. My daughter started pre-k yesterday and she loved it!