Jake's Academic Debut

Yes that's right folks, the big day has arrived. Jake's first day of kindergarten has come and gone and I would have to consider it a roaring success. The only tears of the day came not from a mostly excited but somewhat apprehension 5-year old who was about to start his academic career at a public elementary school (save the eye rolls, I know I am being overly dramatic). The tears were also not the ownership of a very nervous-nelly mom who was feeling very sentimental over the fact that her son was reaching this milestone so quickly, feeling as though it had to have been only yesterday that she was swaddling her newborn and hearing those first angelic coos. No, the tears came from the 3-year old little sister, who in a brief moment of panic couldn't find her mom in the crowds of parents, students and teachers. As it turns out, I was only 6 feet away giving Jake a last good-bye hug and wishing him well on his first day.

Sunday night we packed up Jake's Lightening McQueen backpack and Star Wars lunchbag and ensured that we all got a good night's rest. Jake had no trouble getting up and ready on the first morning of our new routine and he even managed to eat a good breakfast beforehand, which was one of the things I had been nervous about since he generally is not a wake up and eat type of guy.

Here he is before departure complaining that his backpack was too heavy:

As we drove to school, I showed him the bus that he would ride should he change his mind. Once we arrived at school, I could definitely tell that Jake was nervous but he was trying his best to conceal it. Again as we crossed the front parking lot, I pointed to the bus that he would arrive on should he change his mind to which he replied, "Mom, I am not going to change my mind!" This little remark will come into play a little later, just wait and see.

Once at the front of the school, we immediately found his teacher and his buddy Sam who he knows from his spring t-ball team. Suddenly, the nerves gave way to mostly excitement and I was most grateful that Jake knew at least one person to share his first day of school experience with:

Like many of the parents on the first day, we stayed as the teacher kept the children in a line waiting for the last of the buses to arrive:

Here Jake gave me a look as if to say, "Okay Mom, that's enough with the pictures!"

We stayed right up to the moment when the class marched into the school courtyard and out of sight toward their classroom. There he goes, sniff, sniff:

I wish I could give you a play-by-play of what happened next and during the next 5 hours while Jake was in school but instead I will present you with what I was able to extract from Jake when I picked him up from school in the afternoon:

The first words out of his mouth were, "I want to ride the bus. Can I ride the bus tomorrow?" Talk about change of heart! We compromised and I will continue to take him for this week and then let him ride the bus should he still desire to starting next week.

The second words out of his mouth were, "I was there a long time!" True, going from 3 hours a day to 5 is going to be a huge adjustment.

He then proceeded to tell me he learned a new saying from one of the kids. My first thoughts were great, I wonder what curse word I am about to hear. He then proceeded to say, "I was just kidding". Not that he learned a new saying but that is the new saying. I figure at least now it can break the monotony of his other new saying, "That's not funny".

About his day he said he sang two songs he already knew; the ABC song and the Hokey Pokey, only the later was a little different than what he knows. He also said he started to learn a few new songs as well. He said he didn't have time to eat his whole lunch but I know for certain he has 30 minutes and LOTS of distractions eating in a cafeteria full of 5-year olds so we will work on that. He did eat a banana and half of his lunchable, leaving both cookies to my surprise. He also said he made a few new friends but he doesn't know there names and he doesn't want to know their names. I thought that was odd.

And basically that was it. I am hoping to get more tidbits as the week progresses and will see for myself next Tuesday, when I start volunteering in his classroom once a week. I definitely think it will take time for Jake to adjust to being at school 5 hours a day, 5 days a week and the fact that it is much more academic in nature in comparison to preschool (for example when he saw the classroom last Friday he looked at me confused and asked, "Where are all the toys?") but it just means we have to make the most of our free time in the afternoons. The rest of the day went by SO fast and before I even realized, it was time to put the little tykes to bed, not to mention the fact that I was exhausted as well.

So that's all she wrote folks. The tale of Jake hitting yet another milestone, his first day of Kindergarten has come and gone and Mommy can try and breathe a big sigh of relief that it went off without a hitch.