We made it.
These past few weeks have been a whirl of driving, packing lunches, backpacks, snacks, water bottles, school supplies and parental guilt into the minivan and driving back and forth across town three times a day.
Parents with children starting kindergarten this year, I salute you.
I am, of course, giving me, my husband, my parents, my auntie, my cousin and my brother, a giant pat on the back for all pulling through and getting us through two weeks of gradual entry into kindergarten - for one kid. Our son is happy and loving school and our daughter is adjusting well to her new daycare so at the end of a two week spread, I am hopeful that my life will calm down enough to allow me to breathe. However, I learned a few things this week, which I will share in the hopes of spreading wisdom around.
When your child starts gradual entry, it is not a good time to take a university class after twelve years.
The timing will be bad and you won't know how the online technology works and you will be at least a decade older than any of your classmates.All of these things will combine to make you feel stupid, old and seriously ill-equipped to do well in your class. Because your classmates are young, they are also enthusiastic and keen and optimistic about the future. If they pull an all-nighter, it was probably fun and likely not having to do with projectile vomit (well, maybe not).On top of that, all of your homework and assignments will have to be done between the hours of 8 p.m. and 1 a.m. leaving very little time to watch the latest episode of Ray Donovan.
When your first child starts kindergarten, welcome to parent dating. Parent dating is what happens when you start to chat with the other parents or caregivers of the kids in your kid's class in the hopes that you meet a new friend.With luck, you may remember the one mom or dad's name when you see them again the next day (at an impossible time) and are able to say, with confidence, "Hey Sue! My son really likes your son and maybe they should play together some time."
Then you hope that Sue's child actually likes your child and you fret about how your child behaves in class.As a rule, I try to avoid the use of the word "play date" because I loathe it with an unnecessary and ridiculous passion however I recognize that this is what people say now.What's wrong with just "playing?" Can't the kids just "play"? When our son has a "playdate," am I expected to "craft" something for them to do?
There are many false starts in parent dating.
I spend a lot of time thinking, is this person really nice or do they just seem nice? Do they like me?Am I coming on too strong? Do they think my kid running around and yelling is cute or annoying? There are rules to parent dating but no one seems to know what they are.If you talk to one parent one day, is that your friend forever?Will that parent have hurt feelings if you don't talk to them in the afternoon when you spoke to them in the morning? How many times can I reintroduce myself to someone before I will remember their name? Meanwhile, your son happily doesn't know anyone's name and seems quite content about it.
On balance, our children seem to be handling this new transition better than we are.We are hopeful that we'll get the hang of kindergarten soon.
