This year our "back to school" transition has looked quite different. In years past, it is mostly just about me returning to work and the kids returning to the sitter and preschool. My first day won't be until October 3rd due to maternity leave so our school transition has been all about our big, full-day kindergartner!
We attended the school ice cream social and "Sneak-a-peek" to meet Cade's teacher and drop off school supplies. His teacher gave him a special note to open the night before school starts.
And...being the all-star mom that I am...I totally forgot to have him open it!!
Clearly he wasn't as anxious about school as other kids might be, but all I could think about was the rest of the class discussing the glitter under their pillows and Cade not having a clue.
I left the opened letter on the pillow with some glitter nearby and filled Cade in when he woke up in the morning...he didn't seem too scarred for life.
Cade said he'd like to hold up a chalkboard so we quickly made it happen...next year I'll be checking into some printables perhaps.
Our group photos leave a little to be desired...
Cade thought we were crazy for walking to school, until we got to the end of our street and literally met up with about 8 other families walking to school. (We are about a 4-minute walk to school.) The kindergarten teachers are very wise and know that this can be quite the adjustment for moms and dads. They welcomed the parents into the room and had a little art project that we got to do together and then the parents went to a breakfast in the library held by the principal.
Cade has adjusted extremely well to going to school, just as we knew he would! He was ready. It's so fun to see how much he enjoys school. He loves the specials: library, computers, music, pe, and art. He also enjoys reporting to us what was for lunch and what "center" he was at that day. His teacher is extremely organized and very fun.
We have enjoyed our routine of walking Cade to school. I get a little misty thinking about how I wish I could walk them to school every day...this is only a maternity leave luxury and what I will miss most when going back to work.
However, Cade is usually pretty wiped at the end of the school day and is less than excited to walk home. I prefer to walk there to get some exercise so I've been bringing his bike so he can ride it home instead of walking. (We talked about how we need to get a bike lock to be able to leave the bike at the school and he was so confused as to why we needed to lock it up. This sweet boy can't imagine a world where someone would steal his bike!)
My new favorite thing is to go eat lunch with Cade at school. It is beyond entertaining to eat with a table full of kindergartners! Cade knows everyone's name so it's fun putting faces with names...and the kids are more than willing to share stories about the other kids in their class. I learned a lot!
It's fun getting the post-school report from Cade but I'm nervous about keeping up with all the folder-checking and such once I go back to school myself...
I've got about three weeks left at home with my Squishy. I prefer for these next weeks to pass by ever so slowly--and the rest of the school year to kindly fly by.
He's getting to be such a big kid already in the Bumbo.
So this year we learn the ins and outs of kindergarten with Cade and hopefully next year we'll be "experts" when Reese starts. Then I'm sure it will all be new and different by the time we're seeing Cam off to school but I'm thankful for the journey! God always teaches me so much with these new beginnings!
