First Grade Here We Come!

I am not skipping over summer. Mentally cannot afford to do that and do not want to. And although I will still be working 40+ hours a week and will not be spending my days by the pool or at the park, I am so glad to have a three month hiatus from being a parent of a school age child. I’ll be the first to admit it – kindergarten kicked my butt.

School officially ended last week and concluded with kindergarten graduation (no formal event, just a stock certificate) and one final ride home on the Green Frog (yes, the bus has a name). I did feel a little sad because the year flew by and it is another sign that Alex is getting older (quickly getting older), but I spent more time rejoicing in the fact that I no longer have the unexpected and unproportional amount of stress that came with a child being in a classroom for only two hours a day and given what should be simple assignments, like bring in bubbles on bubble day or wear a green shirt on green shirt day. So why was this too much for me to handle?

I know much of my frustration and missteps were related to the teacher’s weekly newsletter – she had a writing style that required a secret decoder ring to uncover any items of importance – but in the end I can only blame myself. In my hopes that one day I would log into Edline to discover a well crafted document, with a defined content structure, bulleted points and a clear call to action, I never did. And I never adjusted my reading style either. Lesson learned. Next year I will be printing out each newsletter on Sunday night and both Andy and I will read (and re-read). I am guessing highlighters will be involved.

But newsletter challenges aside, if you throw in work, travel, Avery’s pres-school, Avery in general, afternoon kindergarten (green shirt day was also at Prodigy, but on a different day than LECC), varying bus schedules, always missing the bus (thanks to Avery) and after school activities, then there were more obstacles on the course than ever anticipated. Just could not get in a good routine. Just could not find my groove – even after 9 months. However, Alex came out like a champ and I guess that is what is important. He is ready for summer. He is ready for one school. He is more than ready for the first grade. And I am ready for second chance next fall.