Yesterday’s post was all about Lucy, so now I need a minute to brag about my Catie-bug.
Where we live, the public schools have both traditional and year-round calendars. We opted for a year-round school (meaning, kids go to school for 9 weeks and then get 3 weeks off, every term), because I like the idea of being able to take off-season vacations, and it also works out well for planning visits from Dave.
So, year-round schools started today. This means that I am now the mom of a kindergartener.
She has a dinosaur backpack with an Angry Bird clipped onto the zipper, a Sonic the Hedgehog lunchbox, a My Little Pony nap mat, and new sneakers that light up when she walks (her “sparkle shoes”). That pretty much encompasses Catie in a nutshell right there.
She knows how to write her first and last name. She can count to 100. She knows more words in Spanish than I do.
See look, even Lucy is all, “SHUT. UP. No way is my sister starting kindergarten already!”
She says she wants to be a paleontologist when she grows up, so she can look for dinosaur bones. But she wants to live with me and have me drive her to work every day, because she doesn’t want to learn how to drive a car. (I expect that desire to drive will kick in sooner than I want it to.) I’ve told her that she can live with me for as long as she wants, and I’ll drive her wherever she wants to go.
Lucy will probably be hotwiring cars before she even hits middle school. That kid is gonna be trouble, I tell you.
She was so excited about starting kindergarten. I, on the other hand, have been a nervous wreck. My stomach would knot up every time I thought about it. I’ve been faking it for her sake, acting like I’m super-excited too, because I didn’t want her to pick up on any of my worrywart vibes.
Only this morning did she finally say, “I think I might be a little bit shy at my new school.” I told her that was normal, and that a lot of the kids are shy at first because it’s new for all of them.
We dropped Lucy off at daycare first, and then Catie and I went to the elementary school. We got there early, and waited outside (along with a lot of other parents and kids) for the doors to open.
We made our way in and found her classroom. She was a little bit clingy and wanted a lot of extra hugs and kisses before I left. But really, she was fine. Great, even. By the time I got to the door, she was happily working on a dinosaur puzzle with a little boy.
No tears at all for either of us. I think we both deserve a cookie.
I am so damn proud of her, y’all.
i “tweeted” about your picture…but i was looking forward to hearing about today! i will remind you in about 8 years when you are dreaming of the day school will start again…HA!
when i first moved to NC…i thought year-round school was a horrible idea…but i now i think it is grand…i think it is a shame they stop it for high school!
Catie looks excited…I’m anxious to hear her views on it!
you are a mamma of a school kid…yea you! have TWO cookies!
Aw! Congrats to you both! I know she’ll love it but I’m totally not ready to be the mom of an elementary school student.
You should be so proud of her AND YOU.
I can’t help but remember what you told me made you the saddest about your divorce- the fact that Dave is missing all the moments. Makes me sad for the girls – and him. She will never have another first day of kindergarten but she WILL remember who was there with her. You’re an amazing mom. You deserve ice cream AND a cookie.
Love to you all.
Yay!! So proud of you both!! Can’t wait to hear all about her first day!! XOXO
We’re on the traditional calendar, which works awesome for us. My cousins, who live 2mins away, are on year-round and love it. I’m glad we have these options to choose what works best for each family.
That said, you’re a school mom! Welcome to endless requests for money, time and supplies! Weeeeee! Haha. Get yourself a filing system set-up to keep all of C’s sweet creations. I was transitioning L’s kindergarten papers/crafts to make room for 1st grade in August. It was neat to flip through first week of school papers and see the HUGE difference in her last week of school papers.
Good times. 😀
Congrats on making it through, Mama. You all dun gewd.
xo
What a great day!!!! The teacher told me at the open house that you can always tell the kids that have gone to daycare, they have no trouble transitioning to school. That actually helped me a lot!
We do a box for each year, and put drawings etc. in there and cull the ones we want to keep. We’re making little time capsules of each year. As stuff piles up it really does get easy to decide what to toss. So far we haven’t opened up any of the older ones, and who knows it may all end up in the trash some day. But for now we are enjoying making up a box of it.
Enjoy your school age child! These are some seriously fun years, and I think the year round will be brilliant for your situation. I have to say, the traditional year is a real slog by March, and it’s plain hard to find enough to fill the long summers. You’ll be breaking it up nicely.
Oh oh oh that makes me get all sniffly! I can’t believe how time flies!
We do cupcake Mondays at my work and I “toasted” my cupcake to Catie today and her first day of school. I am very proud of her! (And omg LOVE that pic of her and Lucy!!) I love her job idea, my brother’s friend is a paleontologist and he loves it.
I also didn’t want to drive, btw, and my mom made me get my license at 17. Lol.
Yay Catie!
I love that picture of her and you. Her face is priceless.
Such a big milestone and I am so excited for you both. If you ever doubt if you’re doing ok, just look at the smiles in those pics. They tell the story.
I can’t wait to hear how she feels about school!
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Beauty. Also? Rock star status for not shedding tears.
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