‘Twas the night before Kindergarten when all through the house,
not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The backpack was hung in the drop zone with care,
in hopes that the school bus soon would be there.
My Graham was nestled all snug in his bed,
while visions of the alphabet danced in his head.
When up from the dresser there arose such a clatter,
he sprang from his bed to see what was the matter…
“Mom! Why is my alarm going off in the middle of the night?!?!?” Oops. Maybe should’ve have helped him adjust to a 6:15 am wake-up time earlier. My bad.
Yes. Kindergarten, school, has been a big slap in the face to the Harding clan. Sure, I knew it would be an adjustment for my son, but we are all reeling. It’s funny, once your kid is a veteran pre-schooler, you think you’ve got this parenting thing down pat. Then another life-stage comes along. Like school. And you sit back and laugh at yourself. You should’ve known better.
I gotta be honest. This kindergarten business is no joke. My kid who used to sleep in until 8am is now having to get up at 6:15, be dressed, fed and at the bus by 7:00. Drop by my house around 6:30 any given week day now and instead of finding two sleeping babies, a dad getting ready for work and a mom snoozing with her pup, you’ll find four zombies bumbling around the kitchen and a dog nestled somewhere in an empty bed. I’ve offered to trade positions with the dog on more than a few occasions and she’s politely declined. So yes, I’m getting up about two hours earlier, and I’m tired. I think Jon is laughing inwardly at this.
I’ve got homework now too. Funny how I thought the homework was something that the kids had to worry about. Unfortunately, when you have a kid that isn’t reading yet, the homework assignment for the kindergartner is to have their parents read aloud to them for 15 minutes. Then we get to fill in the agenda with the name of the book that we read and sign our names. Now, I’m not complaining about reading to my kids. Or filling out an agenda. It’s just the old “telling me I have to do it makes it less fun concept.” Ya know? Now, it’s a task.
I’ve also been told that math is completely different from when we used to learn it. Somehow 2 + 2 is still 4, but how we get there is different. So now we “get” to go to adult math class to re-learn math basics so that we can help our children. Ok. Confession time. I sucked at math. The day I passed my college calculus course was the day I vowed to never open a math text again. That’s what calculators are for. Now, I gotta relearn it? Bah humbug.
Yep, it’s Back to School time, or “To School” time for us newbies. And, while I’m feeling a little Grinchy about it all, my son clamored off of the school bus and declared, “This day was most fabulous!”
Happy Kindergarten to all, and to all a good-year!
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