Abby Goes to Kindergarten

The week leading up to Kindergarten was an interesting mix of emotions for Abby. From our conversations I knew she was excited and yet a little scared, but from her emotional outbursts I knew (at least subconsciously) that there was a bit more of her that was scared than she was letting on. Back in May we had the opportunity to visit all four of her school's kindergarten classes and meet all the teachers, but we didn't know who she would have so the teachers and rooms didn't make too much of an impression other than they were pretty cool. In July, I got a phone call from her teacher to schedule a one-on-one assessment and found out her teacher would be a Mrs Cox (which I was thankful for as after the Kindergarten round-up I felt that Abby clicked best with her and requested her to be Abby's teacher). Then on Monday her school hosted a back to school night where we could drop off school supplies and meet her official teacher. As we were walking into the school Abby slipped her sweet, little hand in mine and said that she was super excited, but also a little scared. I let her know that I felt the same way: super excited but a little scared. But that it was okay to feel that way and that pretty soon I was sure we'd only be excited. We got a quick conversation with her teacher, checked out her classroom, found her desk and (what we thought would be) her cubby, and dropped of her supplies. When we left Abby said that she was no longer scared and only excited. Yeah!

Then on Tuesday we had her incoming Kindergartner assessment. Her assessment was different than what I expected. Instead of asking if she knew her ABCs or 123s or sounds and whatnot, Abby was asked her name, her birthdate, and her favorite things to play with at home. And that was it. Apparently Washington state is doing kindergarten assessments differently this year and seeing how kids are doing while in Kindergarten (instead of as they come in) to see if funding public preschool should occur. Anyhoo, Mrs. Cox and I talked a bit and it was really sweet how she included Abby in some of the questions she had. Such as that there are two Abigail's in Abby's class. Instead of being called Abby C and Abby D, Mrs. Cox wondered if they could be known as Abby and Abigail, but wanted the girls themselves to decide. When she asked Abby what she'd prefer to be called my Abby surprised me when she answered Abigail. (Which ended up being an easy solution as the other Abby was pretty adamant about being called Abby.) The other big question was if Abby would be okay with a "special" cubby. When the classroom was built it was intended for a class size of 23 so there are 23 built in cubbies. But this year there are 24 students assigned to Abby's class. Since Abby is the first student in the class according to the alphabet, and since Mrs. Cox prefers to keep the cubbies assigned in alphabetical order, Abby has a unique cubby on the outside of the built-in cubbies. I haven't personally seen it, but from a friend that has she says it's a similar hook for a backpack but then with a set of shelves to store her books and crayons and such. I'll admit I'm looking forward to a future volunteer day so I can see for myself what this space looks like. The other awesome moment in the assessment was while Mrs. Cox and I were talking, but Abby was done coloring the picture she'd been asked to color. After waiting for a pause in the conversation, Abby sweetly asked "Mrs. Cox, could I please go play?". Oh, my Mama heart. Such sweet manners! As we left the assessment she once again said she was only excited and not scared. However, at this point I was starting to get a little more "butterfly in the stomach" feeling than before. I think that seeing her cubby and her desk made Kindergarten really, real. And with that real feeling I realized that my baby was going to be away from me for the better part of the day. While I'm super, super excited for her it also feels like she's still so little and this is such a big step to take.

And with that...onto this morning. Her official first day of Kindergarten! She woke up excited and bouncing with energy. (But thankfully had slept the entire night in her bed - a first for this week as every previous night she'd ended up in bed with me.) For pictures at our house she was super goofy.

She requested quite strongly that the first few pictures be taken with these specific toys. Why I have no idea. They're not even her favorites. But they were the favorite of the moment!

First Day of Kindergarten. September 1, 2016

Me and my three wonderful kids.

Abby wanted a picture with her siblings on the big day. I was excited to get a picture of the three of them in their coordinating outfits. (I'd purchased Jake and Beth's outfits for their six month photo shoot and didn't want Abby to feel left out. Since Gymboree was having a sale that day she got the coordinating dress for their "outfit" pattern.)

When we got to school Abby walked a little on the slow side until she saw her best friend, Andie, in the Kindergarten area. At that point she ran ahead of me and raced to join in on the playground fun. I showed her Mrs. Cox's area along the fence to drop off her backpack and then stepped back to watch her play and explore her playground area. At her school the Kindergartners have their own playground for just their class. It's kind of nice how their wing is a little bit by themselves in the school. They are still a part of the school but not just dumped into the main crowd from the get-go.

Pausing in her play to give Mom a grin for the picture.

A picture with Mrs. Holmberg, her Principal.

Then the playground duties starting calling out for the kids to line up as the school bell was about to ring. The kids lined up along the fence in their designated spots and waited with backpacks on for their teacher to show up. When Mrs. Cox arrived she counted to make sure she had all of her students (or in our case most as all the kids in the playground were lined up but there were only 21 students in her line - I assume they showed up after I left) then led them off to their adventure of learning.

Abby and Andie excited for school to start.

Walking in to school and beginning her big journey.

Afterwards I went to my first MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers) meeting of the year so it wasn't until I went home after that and put Jake and Beth to sleep that the reality of Abby being in full-day school hit me. It was so quiet in the house! This past month Abby or her friends have been running in and out of the house on a frequent basis. With no VBS or swim lessons, and with the babies being sick, there's been a lot of at home time. Which has meant a lot of ambient background noise. With Abby gone all day and the babies down it was just silent and still. While I missed her, it was nice to focus on Beth and Jake during the day without feeling guilty over ignoring Abby. Then focusing on Abby when she came home knowing that I could let be guilt-free letting Beth and Jake play by themselves as they'd had a lot of my attention in the morning.

When I picked Abby up her first words to me were "I had a great day!" with the biggest smile on her face. I was so, so happy to hear that she'd had a wonderful day. All the way to the car and then on the drive home she just babbled about what she did and what was her favorite thing and how many times she'd had recess and all sorts of events that a five year old found exciting. I'll admit I did a little bit of interrogation on what she had for lunch. I purposefully had her do hot lunch today figuring that there'd be more people who were more inclined to help out in the first few days of school as she had only had the one experience with buying hot lunch. (As opposed to waiting a few weeks to do hot lunch when it's old hat for most everyone and adults may not be as likely to notice she might need help.) Well, I did find out that she didn't really eat as much as I would have liked so I think we'll be doing lunches from home sooner rather than later (especially as she asked to bring her lunch from home tomorrow as her best friend brought her lunch). Which means I better get to a store and buy lunch goodies this weekend!

As I helped put her to bed tonight (well, as I put her to bed for the third time after Nate put her to bed the first two) she was still going on about how much fun she'd had and the neat things she'd done. It was only with letting her know that she'd have even more fun tomorrow (but needed to get sleep for it!) that she finally settled down. Her first day as a Kindergartner, and my first day as a Mom of a Kindergartner, went swimmingly well. I'm so looking forward to this year and all the experiences she (and I) will have.