Finn started Kindergarten this week at the school where Nate is the principal. So far, I'm glad we made that decision. But the day started with many nervous questions about what kindergarten is like. Our precious little worrier.... Finn Finn Finn.....
(during breakfast)
Finn: "Mommy, I'm not scared of Kindergarten but I feel..... disappointed?....no that's not it.......I just ....don't know how it's gonna go."
Me: "Are you nervous?"
Finn: "Yeah! That's the word! I'm nervous."
(getting dressed)
Finn: "Mom, what if I forget something?"
Me: "Like what? Your lunch?"
Finn: "What if I forget some of the lower-case letters....because they just look a little different sometimes."
(in the car on the way to school)
Finn: "Mom, I'm nervous about kindergarten. I'm not REALLY nervous. Just medium."
(later)
Finn: "My body feels funny."
*I should note that there were oodles and oodles of hugs and kisses and reassurance and talks of how fun it will be and how I wish I was in kindergarten again because I loved it so much. He hears all that too, but Finn is still so anxious sometimes. I hope he doesn't turn gray early from all the anxiety!*
We got there very early and found Nate right away. Without skipping a beat, Finn said with confidence, "Hi Mr. Monley!" And he wasn't just trying to be cute or funny. I think he had been practicing calling Nate that and didn't want to forget, although we told him it's okay if he forgets sometimes. I'm realizing that we need to be careful how strict we make rules when it comes to school. Finn takes it all very seriously.
We watched all the kids slowly walk in their straight line to class (which with 5 yr olds took about 20 minutes to go 20 yards.) Then the parents were invited to the gym for "Coffee and Kleenex". I had my emotional moment for half a second, wondering how Finn went from baby to kindergartener so fast...and then I accepted it an moved on. By the time I picked him up at 12:45 Finn was totally into it! He was excited and said kindergarten was fun and gave me a play-by-play of the day. The first two days were "short days" 8:05-12:45. After that he goes till 3:15 with all the big kids. Jeepers!
By Friday Finn was pretty comfortable. The whole school had a "Town Hall" meeting like they do every Friday and they celebrated their recent news of a new high API score for the school. The top performing students got to spray-paint Mr. Monley's hair purple. It was fun, and cool for Finn to be a part of it. I'm looking forward to this school year with my boys at CHA. Go Eagles!
