My anxiety and fear over my son starting school has changed to a fierce feeling of pride and happiness.
My baby boy finished his very first week of kindergarten. I can hardly believe it myself, and I am content and happy that he did so well. No tears, no fighting, no yelling - insead, each day this week, he happily went to school, with smiles, with confidence, and without even a look back over his shoulder at me.
I love that I now have a school-aged child. I have been waiting for this moment for a long time! But I am still in disbelief that I have a school-aged child.
Of course, the most exciting part of his day for me is when I pick him up, so I can ask him how his day went. Because truly - this is the first time in his life that I don't know the details of his every moment. And being the type of mom that I am, I need details!
Sadly, he is not fulfilling my need here - he's not too vocal about the details of his day at school. I get the usual answer that I know I'll get for many more years to come...
"So sweetie-pie, how was school today?"
"Good."
And... that's where the conversation ends.
I continue asking questions, of course. I don't like the loss of control, really. But at the same time, I'm welcoming this new independence in his life. I've even noticed a change of behaviour at home, even though it has only been one week. Believe it or not, he is more agreeable and doesn't argue as much over the little things.
But... I would like to know some of the details, you know?
An example of one of our conversations:
"What did you play with today?"
"The teacher brought out a new toy."
"Oh, that's good!"
"Then she took it away."
"Okay...."
Then, I asked him if he had done a craft at school.
"No. Actually, yes. I did. A school bus."
"Oh, that's great Christos!"
"But then someone took it."
"Another kid took it? What do you mean?"
Silence. My son ran off to play with brother, happily.
So, I sat down, took out my personalized stationary, and wrote a little note to his teacher. Oh, yes, I did.
"... today Christos said someone took one of his crafts. I'm just curious to see if you know anything about this?" I wrote.
I put the letter in my son's folder to be taken back to school the next day, in his backpack.
Later that evening, I was talking to my husband, parents, and sister. I told them about the conversation I had with Christos, and about the letter I wrote to his teacher.
They all looked at me like I was crazy. They insisted I take out the letter, so as not to be seen as 'that mom'.
Sigh. I took out the letter.
And now I have to live the rest of my life never knowing what really happened with my son's missing craft.
Don't sweat the small stuff, right? I'm in trouble, friends... and this is only the beginning!
My baby boy finished his very first week of kindergarten. I can hardly believe it myself, and I am content and happy that he did so well. No tears, no fighting, no yelling - insead, each day this week, he happily went to school, with smiles, with confidence, and without even a look back over his shoulder at me.
I love that I now have a school-aged child. I have been waiting for this moment for a long time! But I am still in disbelief that I have a school-aged child.
Of course, the most exciting part of his day for me is when I pick him up, so I can ask him how his day went. Because truly - this is the first time in his life that I don't know the details of his every moment. And being the type of mom that I am, I need details!
Sadly, he is not fulfilling my need here - he's not too vocal about the details of his day at school. I get the usual answer that I know I'll get for many more years to come...
"So sweetie-pie, how was school today?"
"Good."
And... that's where the conversation ends.
I continue asking questions, of course. I don't like the loss of control, really. But at the same time, I'm welcoming this new independence in his life. I've even noticed a change of behaviour at home, even though it has only been one week. Believe it or not, he is more agreeable and doesn't argue as much over the little things.
But... I would like to know some of the details, you know?
An example of one of our conversations:
"What did you play with today?"
"The teacher brought out a new toy."
"Oh, that's good!"
"Then she took it away."
"Okay...."
Then, I asked him if he had done a craft at school.
"No. Actually, yes. I did. A school bus."
"Oh, that's great Christos!"
"But then someone took it."
"Another kid took it? What do you mean?"
Silence. My son ran off to play with brother, happily.
So, I sat down, took out my personalized stationary, and wrote a little note to his teacher. Oh, yes, I did.
"... today Christos said someone took one of his crafts. I'm just curious to see if you know anything about this?" I wrote.
I put the letter in my son's folder to be taken back to school the next day, in his backpack.
Later that evening, I was talking to my husband, parents, and sister. I told them about the conversation I had with Christos, and about the letter I wrote to his teacher.
They all looked at me like I was crazy. They insisted I take out the letter, so as not to be seen as 'that mom'.
Sigh. I took out the letter.
And now I have to live the rest of my life never knowing what really happened with my son's missing craft.
Don't sweat the small stuff, right? I'm in trouble, friends... and this is only the beginning!
Comments
Sometimes they only tell us bits and pieces, and the story could be something entirely different from what you think it is.
But Lou, if your gut is EVER telling you that you need to talk to the teacher, DO it. Don't worry about being "that mom". It's those Moms who get what their kids need.
(shaking my head side to side)
Call the teacher, blog about it, plaster it on facebook and THEN TWEET about this.
We have got to get to the bottom of this. I mean, HELLO! You can never have too many drawings of skinny legged elephants eating cupcakes on your fridge!
Just sayin....
heehee
Oh, and get used to the non-answers of how their day was, its like pulling teeth and its permanent. Asking my son what he did is always answered by, "we had recess!" or "I don't remember!" and then he's done.
When M was in the infant room at daycare, we got a detailed written list of his daily activities. In the toddler room we got one highlight he particularly enjoyed. And in pre-school - nada. We get his nap length and if he ate "well" or "so-so." Unless we ask a teacher. Drives me crazy to not know what he did all day! As his vocab grew I thought I might get some info from him, but it's hopeless! How was your day? Good. What did you do? Played.
All righty then. lol
(The only exceptions being if his little friend, Lea, A GIRL came over for lunch... and talked NOT STOP about what they did at school that morning.)