Monthly Archives: August 2021

At daycare, there are regular updates on an app and a decent amount of teacher feedback. I was trying to prepare myself for the wild world of elementary school, but the good news is that so far, they’ve held our hands quite a bit. There is an app that gets updated regularly. There was a first day of school email from his teacher. I’ve gotten a few photos from during the day. They are being very strict about visitors but we got to walk him to his classroom this first week.  

The lunch room is different this year (due to covid), so instead of him going through a lunch line (which he was very excited about), kids choose their meals ahead of time and the meals are delivered to the classroom. This is how meals worked at daycare, so I actually think it’s an ok transition. I look forward to when we don’t have to worry about a global pandemic, but in the meantime, I think it’s ok for my kindergartener to have his meals in his classroom. 

At the beginning of the week, we choose his lunch options (he can also bring cold lunch if he wants). There is a chef, and according to Xander, the meals have been good so far. 

School is 8am-3pm and his schedule is busy with specialists. He goes to PE 3 times a week, which he is LOVING. The first half of the year, he is taking french and then the second half, he will take spanish. He has music, drama, library, art and goes outside twice a day. I don’t have anything to compare it to, but it seems like a pretty good schedule. 

Xander has 12 kids in his class- there are 6 boys and 6 girls. There is a second kindergarten class as well. 

3 days into kindergarten and that’s what I know so far. 

Our baby began kindergarten today! I can’t believe it! He was calm, cool, and went into school like he’d been doing it his whole life. When I got back into the car I thought, “wait, I think I was supposed to cry!” but he was so calm, it didn’t occur to me to be nervous or upset. 

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We made family bracelets so that if Xander got nervous, he could look at his bracelet and think of our family. 

We dropped him off and just like that, he’s a big kid! 

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The admissions director sent Nate and I a few texts throughout the day with updates and a photo of X. 

Meanwhile, Augustus spent Wednesday with Grandma, and they were BUSY! They were at the park for 2 hours where Augustus made a gaggle of friends. They had a fabulous day!

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I’d been warned by several people that when kids start kindergarten, the first few days (or weeks) they are a mess- exhausted after a busy day. I had snacks ready in the car. I had an early dinner planned. I didn’t bombard him with questions. But he was chatty on the way home and was excited to play with Grandma and Gussie when we got home. After dinner, he insisted I get him some cones so he could show me the activity he did in PE class. He’s shown us his muscles several times so far and he’s very excited about gym class (luckily they have it 3 times a week). He liked his lunch, he got to go outside twice, he had art class. It sounds like it was a very good day! 

Monday was a typical night with our tiny biker gang roaming the street, while the grown ups played bags and hung out. 

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Tuesday was a normal day at school for the boys, except that it was Xander’s last day of daycare! Xander started daycare at 1 years old. He couldn’t walk yet and all the other 1 year olds seemed really big. He had to wear shoes (he’d never worn shoes before!). He needed a cup and silverware (he didn’t use either!). I was HORRIFIED. His teachers were calm and sweet and shrugged their shoulders saying, “he will” every time I said he couldn’t do something. He was just another 1 year old, not the special snowflake I thought he was. I cried in the parking lot every time I dropped him off (for several days in a row). As predicted by his teachers, he learned how to do everything and he loved daycare and for the last 4 years, he’s come home with art projects, stories from the day, new friends and he is a happy, confident little boy. And now when I drop him off, I slow the van to a roll, open the door and tell him to tuck and roll before I burn rubber out of the parking lot. Nate tells me I’ve told that joke to everyone, but it’s not so much a joke, as it is a reassurance to myself. I am uptight. I don’t like change. I spend a lot of time thinking, processing and having feelings about everything. I toured MANY daycares. I agonized over every little detail. It was not easy for me. But it was fine- better than fine- Xander LOVED daycare. And so I’m reassuring myself that even though we toured 13 schools and I’ve agonized over him starting kindergarten, eventually this will be no big deal too and he’s going to be so happy as a big kid. 

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Tuesday morning, I surprised him by decorating his room and the hallway. Xander is an early riser, so he and I snuck off to the bakery to bring home donuts for everyone. 
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He will miss his teachers and his friends and I am grateful every day for his time at KBH. Gussie is moving to pre-K in September, taking Xander’s place in his classroom, so we will still get to enjoy the amazing teachers. 

Wednesday began our family fun countdown to kindergarten week. 

Wednesday morning, Nate and Xander played golf. Xander finished golf lessons recently and this was the first time he got to go to actual grown up golf with Daddy! 

 
Gussie and I went to the bakery and the park. 

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Wednesday afternoon, the boys went to my mom’s house for a slumber party. They hung out at the mall all afternoon, playing in the arcade and in the play area. Nate and I went out to a nice dinner and then out to drinks on a patio. It was a great kickoff to our fun week. 
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Thursday the boys stayed at my mom’s until the afternoon and then had a low key evening at home. We played outside and relaxed. 

Friday was kindergarten orientation day at school, so Nate, Xander and I headed to school while Gussie and Grandma Debbie hung out at the park. Xander unpacked his school supplies and spent some time with his classmates and his teacher. We got to learn all about how things work and meet the specialists (gym, art, music, theater, stem, french, spanish, and librarian!)
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On Friday afternoon, we headed to the movies to watch the new Paw Patrol movie. 

After the movie was weekly happy hour with the neighborhood. Happy hour is always a blast with kids running around, the most fun adults joining in to play with the kiddos, and everyone just relaxing. 

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Saturday was a playdate with Xander’s best buddy Leo, while Gussie and I went to a birthday party with his friends (they had a bounce house!). 

 

Saturday night was a mini version of happy hour. There are some “big kids” down the street who the boys LOVE!! They are always thrilled when Olive and Emmet pay attention to them, so they couldn’t have been more excited to have them come over to play. 

Sunday afternoon we headed to Great Wolf Lodge for a quick get away. We swam until the pool closed for the night. We ate snacks. We played in the arcade. It was nonstop fun!

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We got home Monday afternoon with 2 very tired boys, so we had a very low key relaxing afternoon. 

When I asked Xander what he wanted to do for his final special day, he told me he wanted to go to Target, buy legos, and spend the day putting them together as a family. And he wanted hoagies for dinner. I had expected he would ask for something way bigger or more extravagant. It was a good reminder of what is really important. 

So today we got up and headed to Target where we told the boys they could pick out any legos they wanted. Xander chose a big set even though it said 9+- he felt pretty confident because he’s very good at legos. We got his backpack packed, his uniform laid out, and picked out his hot lunch choices for the week, but otherwise he worked on legos ALL day. I think it was the perfect activity, because he was occupied all day, but it was relaxing and low key after a busy week. 

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And now tomorrow our baby is off to kindergarten! I can’t believe it. The days are long, but the years fly by- so true. Xander is smart and curious, confident, but sometimes a little shy. He is sweet and kind and has the best smile. He is laid back like Nate, but “type A” like me. He is turning out to be a very cool little person who I love spending time with. I am very excited to see him grow and blossom this year. 

School starts at 8am tomorrow. We haven’t made it to daycare before 8:40 all year, so our family is going to have to adjust to a new schedule. Wish us luck! 

We’ve been busy and trying to cram as much fun stuff into the final days of summer.