Today's car conversation after school:
Sam: Bo, do you know Jake?
Bo: No, who's Jake?
Sam: He's my friend at preschool and he's AWESOME!!
Showing posts with label School. Show all posts
Showing posts with label School. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Sam's First Day of Preschool
Sometimes the best laid plans are merely wishful thinking . . . until even better plans can be made.
All Summer I was planning for both Sam & Max to start preschool in September. I had everything ready. Max was pretty much potty trained, they had new back packs, I had reserved each of them spots at Bright Beginnings (where Bo went) and had been daydreaming of all the things I could do or get done while I was kidless. It would only be 3 hours 3 days a week but the possibilities were endless. I would go to the gym, grocery shop, organize the closets, catch up on blogging, go through the last 5 years of papers and bills in our filing cabinet, take up swimming again, meal plan, sit in quiet, meet with a personal trainer, clean the house, read a book, (wait, no, just kidding, how did that get in there?!), repaint our bathroom, make a quilt out of the boys' baby clothes, recover our kitchen chairs, did I say go to the gym, and oh yes, very important, go to the bathroom without interruption.
It was going to be GLORious!
And then I took them to visit the school last week and all of that changed. I could feel my freedom being sucked out of me as I watched the boys play. Don't get me wrong, they did fabulous. They played for about an hour and had a blast. But it was BECAUSE they played so well together that I realized Sam really needed to go to preschool alone. He spent much of the hour helping Max and taking care of Max rather than exploring and mingling with the other students. He's the middle child and has never done anything alone. So as much as I would love love love some "me" time, and love love love doing all the things I had planned, it was obvious that Sam needed HIS "me" time more.
However, Sam did not think he needed any "me" time and threw fits the following week, screaming that he did not want to go to school alone. He wanted to go with Max and if Max wasn't going, either was he.
So fast forward to the morning of the first day of school and the fits continued. TOO.MUCH.SCREAMING.FOR,TOO,LITTLE.CAFFEINE! How on Earth was I going to get this kid in the car and to school without one of us killing the other?
Light bulb!
"Sam, we at least have to take your school supplies to school because your teacher needs them." It's amazing I could even think with all that noise but it worked. He calmed down, got dressed and we left. Phew! Thank goodness he has a big heart and wanted to help out. But Lord knows this would only buy me some time. We would eventually get to school.
Which we did but only AFTER I tried to fix my low tire at the house and instead made it flatter while trying to inflate it because the air compressor did work and I could not figure the damn thing out and in all my geniusness, kept trying which in turn just kept making the damn thing even flatter. What the hell?! Flipping the switch on and off and on and off did not work. Tire was still getting flatter. My face getting redder. I just wanted to get Sam to school. Why won't this work? What the f*@! am I doing wrong?! And why . . . is this thing not plugged in?! . . .
With the tire now fixed we started to take Bo to school when I realized that I was on 'E' and forgot my purse at home. You can't be serious! Can the morning go anymore wrong? So we dropped Bo off at school, went all the way back home, grabbed my purse, raided the shed for a few gallons of gas to chug into the tank and headed out again to drop the school supplies off at preschool. (wink wink)
But I digress. School. We did eventually get to school.
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! NOOOOOO! I DON'T WANT TO GO! (insert kicking, punching, flailing, clawing and making a ginormous scene here). It was bad. Really bad. But thank goodness for Mrs. Dupont who has been a preschool teacher for many many years. She just picked up Sam, punching and all, said, "Goodbye Mom. He'll be fine," and walked into the other room.
My heart sank but I knew she was right. And she was. When I called 20 minutes later to check in, he was already chatting her ear off about his new GI Joe lunch box. "Look at my new lunch box. I like my new lunch box. Daddy likes it too. It's GI Joe. Bo does not like it. Do you like it?"
My heart raised back into place and Max I went shopping. Everything was going to be ok.
All Summer I was planning for both Sam & Max to start preschool in September. I had everything ready. Max was pretty much potty trained, they had new back packs, I had reserved each of them spots at Bright Beginnings (where Bo went) and had been daydreaming of all the things I could do or get done while I was kidless. It would only be 3 hours 3 days a week but the possibilities were endless. I would go to the gym, grocery shop, organize the closets, catch up on blogging, go through the last 5 years of papers and bills in our filing cabinet, take up swimming again, meal plan, sit in quiet, meet with a personal trainer, clean the house, read a book, (wait, no, just kidding, how did that get in there?!), repaint our bathroom, make a quilt out of the boys' baby clothes, recover our kitchen chairs, did I say go to the gym, and oh yes, very important, go to the bathroom without interruption.
It was going to be GLORious!
And then I took them to visit the school last week and all of that changed. I could feel my freedom being sucked out of me as I watched the boys play. Don't get me wrong, they did fabulous. They played for about an hour and had a blast. But it was BECAUSE they played so well together that I realized Sam really needed to go to preschool alone. He spent much of the hour helping Max and taking care of Max rather than exploring and mingling with the other students. He's the middle child and has never done anything alone. So as much as I would love love love some "me" time, and love love love doing all the things I had planned, it was obvious that Sam needed HIS "me" time more.
However, Sam did not think he needed any "me" time and threw fits the following week, screaming that he did not want to go to school alone. He wanted to go with Max and if Max wasn't going, either was he.
So fast forward to the morning of the first day of school and the fits continued. TOO.MUCH.SCREAMING.FOR,TOO,LITTLE.CAFFEINE! How on Earth was I going to get this kid in the car and to school without one of us killing the other?
Light bulb!
"Sam, we at least have to take your school supplies to school because your teacher needs them." It's amazing I could even think with all that noise but it worked. He calmed down, got dressed and we left. Phew! Thank goodness he has a big heart and wanted to help out. But Lord knows this would only buy me some time. We would eventually get to school.
Which we did but only AFTER I tried to fix my low tire at the house and instead made it flatter while trying to inflate it because the air compressor did work and I could not figure the damn thing out and in all my geniusness, kept trying which in turn just kept making the damn thing even flatter. What the hell?! Flipping the switch on and off and on and off did not work. Tire was still getting flatter. My face getting redder. I just wanted to get Sam to school. Why won't this work? What the f*@! am I doing wrong?! And why . . . is this thing not plugged in?! . . .
With the tire now fixed we started to take Bo to school when I realized that I was on 'E' and forgot my purse at home. You can't be serious! Can the morning go anymore wrong? So we dropped Bo off at school, went all the way back home, grabbed my purse, raided the shed for a few gallons of gas to chug into the tank and headed out again to drop the school supplies off at preschool. (wink wink)
But I digress. School. We did eventually get to school.
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! NOOOOOO! I DON'T WANT TO GO! (insert kicking, punching, flailing, clawing and making a ginormous scene here). It was bad. Really bad. But thank goodness for Mrs. Dupont who has been a preschool teacher for many many years. She just picked up Sam, punching and all, said, "Goodbye Mom. He'll be fine," and walked into the other room.
My heart sank but I knew she was right. And she was. When I called 20 minutes later to check in, he was already chatting her ear off about his new GI Joe lunch box. "Look at my new lunch box. I like my new lunch box. Daddy likes it too. It's GI Joe. Bo does not like it. Do you like it?"
My heart raised back into place and Max I went shopping. Everything was going to be ok.
Obviously we did not get any pictues BEFORE school but I did manage to take a couple when I picked him up. He had a great day.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
1st Day of First Grade
Hard to believe but Bo started first grade today. He's getting so big and growing up so fast; I'm not sure if I'm ready.
He has grown tremendously in the social department with other kids but still does not like to look adults in the eye or speak to them. He loves to play with his best friend Devon and would probably play video games all day long if I'd let him.
He did not throw a fit this morning about having to go to school so that was nice but he was not jumping up and down with excitement either. It was also cousin Kate's first day of kindergarten today in St. Louis so there were lots of emails going back and forth between the fam as the day went on. Here are some of them that really describe the day and all the emotions involved:
********
From Paula:
Kate: mostly excited. One of the first things she said this morning was "I'm a little nervous and little bit excited." it went great. Pics on blog tonight!
Claire: pissed that she didn't get a new dress and a new school. She said "I'm fussy. Do you know what that means? It means when someone is frustrated because the big sister gets the special stuff, and the little sister doesn't." Getting ready was rough, but drop-off was fine.
Charlee: could have cared less. Just wanted "brefuss" and "brush my own hair!"
Chad and I took Kate, took about 50 pics, tried not to cry, and then went to breakfast with JB and Julie.
A brilliant morning!!
********
From Me: Awwww. I can't wait to see pics. I bet they were all adorable! Is Kate's kindergarten full day or part day?
********
From Paula: Full day. 8:30-3:30. When does Bo start?********
From Me: Bo started today, too. Last night was rough, lots of whining that he didn't want to go but this morning was ok. He was "too cool" for me. He let go of my hand once we got in front of the school. One of his buddies from last year is in his class so they hooked up right away. Hopefully he has a good day. Last year was only part day so I'm sure today will seem really long.
********
From Paula's Blog Post: We picked Kate up together. Here's a synopsis of our conversation.
Us: How was your
day?
K: Great!!
Us: What did you like
most?
K: Seeing my friends Nick and
Charlie.
Us: What did you like
least?
K: P.E. It was
boring.
Us: What was hard? What was
easy?
K: Nothing. It was
juuuussssst right.
Us: Do you like
kindergarten?
K: I want to do kindergarten
FOREVER.
Love that kid!!!
********
From Me: You couldn't ask for a better first day. She is adorable. And I love that she answered all of your questions. I feel like I am prying for information every day with Bo. And I think it is great that you bought Claire a new dress. Bo's first year of school was harder on Sam, too, and I was not prepared for that. He felt like he was getting left behind. But they get over it. Today when Bo left for school, Sam said "yay"! ********
From Paula: I laughed out loud at Sam's "yay." too funny. Was Bo tired last night?
********
From Me: Haha. No, he was not tired; he was super obnoxious crazy hyper. 7 hours of sitting still exploded when he got home. It was a rough afternoon. Was Kate exhausted?
********
From Paula: Yes, just about fell asleep at dinner!
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Bo's First Day of Kindergarten
It's hard to believe but Bo is now a Kindergartner. I don't know if I should be excited or sad. Part of me loves watching him grow and explore and try new things but the other part wants him to stay little and cuddly and my little Bo-bo forever. Where did the last 5 years go? (Oh that's right, it got flushed into a hazy fog of 2 more babies, not much sleep and a whirlwind of everyday life. Duh!)
Yesterday was his first day and it went well. He was excited about the idea of school, the new clothes, the new lunch box, super cool "golden" folder. . .but this eagerness quickly faded when it came time to me having to leave him in the classroom. He did not want me to leave and immediately reclused into himself, hunching down over his paper, crayon in hand, his head practically touching the table, mentally blocking out everyone else around. It broke my heart. But I knew he would be fine. His teacher, Mrs. Todd, is super nice and his table mate, Jacob, seemed like a very nice kid so with a wave and one last kiss I was gone.
The nice thing about Kindergarten in Fairbanks is that they ease the kids in slowly. First of all they start a week after all the other grades and then once they do start, they only go for 2.5 hours the first two days. It's great. Plus because the Kindergarten classes are flex-day, each classroom has a morning group of kids (8:30-1:00) and an afternoon group of kids (10:30-3:00) with them all overlapping a few hours in the middle. But for these first two days of school, the two groups do not overlap at all, so the class size is small (about 10 kids). Bo went 12:30-3:00 and it worked out great. It was a nice transition. He got to play at home all morning, eat lunch here and then go in for a few hours in the afternoon. Not bad.
And amazingly enough, when I picked him up yesterday, he said it was, "good"! :)
However, this morning when it came time to get ready for school, he said, "What? I have to go again?!"
Yesterday was his first day and it went well. He was excited about the idea of school, the new clothes, the new lunch box, super cool "golden" folder. . .but this eagerness quickly faded when it came time to me having to leave him in the classroom. He did not want me to leave and immediately reclused into himself, hunching down over his paper, crayon in hand, his head practically touching the table, mentally blocking out everyone else around. It broke my heart. But I knew he would be fine. His teacher, Mrs. Todd, is super nice and his table mate, Jacob, seemed like a very nice kid so with a wave and one last kiss I was gone. The nice thing about Kindergarten in Fairbanks is that they ease the kids in slowly. First of all they start a week after all the other grades and then once they do start, they only go for 2.5 hours the first two days. It's great. Plus because the Kindergarten classes are flex-day, each classroom has a morning group of kids (8:30-1:00) and an afternoon group of kids (10:30-3:00) with them all overlapping a few hours in the middle. But for these first two days of school, the two groups do not overlap at all, so the class size is small (about 10 kids). Bo went 12:30-3:00 and it worked out great. It was a nice transition. He got to play at home all morning, eat lunch here and then go in for a few hours in the afternoon. Not bad.
And amazingly enough, when I picked him up yesterday, he said it was, "good"! :)
However, this morning when it came time to get ready for school, he said, "What? I have to go again?!"
Saturday, May 7, 2011
End of School Picnic
Bo's school had it's end of year picnic last week at Fun Time Park and it was just that. Grandma and I took the boys and we all had a great time.
Bo & his best friend Zach
Bo & Zach
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Bo's School Program
I'm a proud Mama.
Bo sang (ahem, stood) in his first ever School Christmas Program last week and he was the cutest thing ever. I didn't know if I should cry or laugh. The poor kid was absolutely miserable.
Miserable or pissed off or bored or scared. I'm still not exactly sure, but he certainly was something. He rivaled the guards at Buckingham Palace. Seriously. He never moved a muscle or changed facial expressions or hell, I don't even know if he ever blinked.
But singing or smiling or not, he was the cutest one up there and I am so stinkin proud of him. I know crowds make him really nervous and he does not like to sing but he never cried or complained or ran away. He sucked it up and stood there like a man.
Bo sang (ahem, stood) in his first ever School Christmas Program last week and he was the cutest thing ever. I didn't know if I should cry or laugh. The poor kid was absolutely miserable.
Miserable or pissed off or bored or scared. I'm still not exactly sure, but he certainly was something. He rivaled the guards at Buckingham Palace. Seriously. He never moved a muscle or changed facial expressions or hell, I don't even know if he ever blinked.
But singing or smiling or not, he was the cutest one up there and I am so stinkin proud of him. I know crowds make him really nervous and he does not like to sing but he never cried or complained or ran away. He sucked it up and stood there like a man.
The kids decided it was rude to not say "please" in 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas' when it says "bring me some figgy pudding", so the teacher, Mrs. Dupont, let two of the most-likely-to-not-want-to-sing kids hold "please" signs to help make them feel more involved. Bo was one of them.
Then when she told him he could put it down, he proceeded to stand statuesque and merely opened his fingers just enough to let the sign fall down to his feet. It was hilarious (but you'd have to see it to understand and if I can ever figure out our new video camera well enough to download only small snippets of video, you could possibly see what I'm talking about.) 
Later at home when we were watching the video back on our camera, Bo said, "Everyone is singing but me" and when I asked him "why" he said, "because they were taking too long." ???
*Songs were 'Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer', 'Jingle Bells', 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas', & 'Watermelon Pie'
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
First Day of Pre-School
Today was Bo's first day of pre-school and he did great. He said he was sad that I left him but never cried. He was such a big boy with his spider man backpack and matching lunch box. I so wish I had taken a picture of him but he didn't want me to and the last thing I wanted to do was add more anxiety to the morning, so I let him off the hook.
He will be going 3 mornings a week for 3 hours and I am so excited for him. I think it will be a great outlet for him this winter; a way to get out of the house and away from the cooped-up-ness that comes along with a new baby. I just hope he enjoys it. How could he not? It's attached to Gymnastics, Inc of all places and they get to go into the gym to play every day. Can't beat that.
He will be going 3 mornings a week for 3 hours and I am so excited for him. I think it will be a great outlet for him this winter; a way to get out of the house and away from the cooped-up-ness that comes along with a new baby. I just hope he enjoys it. How could he not? It's attached to Gymnastics, Inc of all places and they get to go into the gym to play every day. Can't beat that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)