First Day of Kindergarten!
For months now, really since she started Pre-K class at her old school, Bobbin has been preparing for the day that she starts kindergarten. Her Pre-K teacher did a fantastic job with all of the kids, slowly and gently introducing them to the new experiences they would be faced with upon entering kindergarten - everything from taking the school bus to school, to having to eat lunch in a cafeteria, having to bring snack and lunch from home, having to open snack and lunch containers by themselves, having to share space with older kids, having to meet new people, etc. And of course, the type of things they would do and learn in Kindergarten, and the many similarities between Kindergarten and Pre-K.
We reiterated all of this same information at home as well. And the end result of all of this preparation was that Bobbin was pretty much ready and mostly excited. The only time she got nervous was at the end of the day when she was tired, but by the next morning she was always eager for the day she would begin Kindergarten.
Well, that day finally arrived today :-) Yesterday afternoon we finished decorating the large nametag that was included in the orientation packet, and that each Kindergartener would be required to wear on the bus as well as at school for the first 10 days of school. We then completed her very first "homework" project: Each child was instructed to fill a paper bag that was included in the orientation packet with 5 objects that represent something important about themselves. Bobbin chose the following
1) Her brand new "Zhu Zhu Pet" hamster, because "it is lovable and I love my pets and all animals"
2) A fossilized worm, because "It's really cool, AND my GRANDPA JERRY gave it to me"
3) A chunk of amethyst, because "I collect rocks, and I like the colour purple"
4) Her miniature replica of the Space Needle because "I love to go up the space needle and look down and see everything so small"
5) Two "Hello Kitty" zipper pulls, one with a green Peridot and the other with the 1st letter of her name emblazoned with pink crystals because "the green one is my birthstone and the other is the first letter of my name and I also like the colour Pink".
We then picked out her outfit for the morning and hung it up on her closet door knob. She chose a snack of goldfish crackers and apples to be packed in her new little Hello Kitty snack container (given that she doesn't get to use her snazzy new lunchbox, I figured the least we could do was get her a snazzy new snack box :-)), and then she went to bed, falling asleep almost instantly.
Easy peasy, right? Yeah. Not so much. At 3am Bobbin woke up having to go to the bathroom. At 3:30 she woke up because she needed her back rubbed. Finally at 4pm she came into our room and admitted that there was really nothing wrong at all, she just couldn't sleep because she was SO EXCITED. She climbed into our bed and proceeded to snuggle down and CHAT for another hour about how excited she was, and what time would the bus come, and could she eat breakfast now, and what if we called the bus driver to let her know that she was ready to go so she could get picked up early, and NOW could she eat breakfast? What about NOW? Well could she at least get dressed and then go back to sleep? Etc. etc. etc.
She finally fell asleep around 5ish and woke up again at 7:15. Tim and I slowly dragged our butts out of bed bed while she bounced around her room singing at the top of her lungs and getting dressed and ready for breakfast.
We got out to the bus stop right on time, and she hopped on so fast that I never even got to snap a picture of the major milestone she had just completed. She didn't even turn to wave!
Tim did get to school to meet the bus so he was able to get some pics of her getting off the bus. I got there just as they were lining up and getting ready to go in.
While she was happy to have us there as she was lining up, she also very clearly informed us that for her 2nd day of school we were NOT to follow the bus OR meet her at school.
When she arrived home, she bounded off the bus exclaiming in her loudest voice how much FUN the bus ride was and how COOL it was, and how AWESOME kindergarten is and how much she LOVES it. And as we went inside, she chatted about all the things she did, and her new friend that she wants to have a playdate with "right away", and about how she really wants to go to the store so she can look at "Sketchers" which are "Shoes, mom. I heard some kids talking about them on the bus and they're really cool". When we got inside she insisted upon getting her own snack,her own drink, unpacking her own backpack, putting away her own stuff... little miss independant in full throttle.
Tim and I are still reeling from the entire experience. And we realize that day 2 may be a complete different deal. And that's ok. But the first day couldn't have gone more smoothly and we're so excited for her and proud of her!
Here are a few pictures. Enjoy!
Comments