School Daze

I wanted to update everyone on the first weeks of school.
JOSEPH.... the boy who started school with the most tears is now fearless in the mornings. We walk into the gym, wait for the teachers to come & get them, me standing at the back of the gym waiting.... waiting for him to point to the exit door and wave me goodbye. Most mornings he even forgets to give me my exit. He just walks away with his friends without any worries. He takes his lunch everyday, a peanutbutter sandwich everyday. He won't eat the school lunch because it comes with fruits & vegetables. Alison has told him he doesn't have to eat it, but that is not good enough. He is my picky eater, atleast he is finally eating peanutbutter.
ALISON.... started kindergarten already reading at a first grade level. We informed her teacher of this prior to school starting. 3 weeks into school I asked her if she was reading in class. She said "no, my teacher says to have my mom & dad read to me at home." I was starting to get frustrated with her lack of progress. Then one weekend while I was at work she started making books. Her stories were filled with complete sentences. I asked her if daddy helped her write the stories. She responded with an emphatic NO! Thus began the communication with her teacher. We have since realized that she has been holding back in class. I met with her teacher today and she had great things to say about her progress. She is progressing like a first grader, not a kindergartener. What a stinker! Atleast her teacher and I are on the same page now.
IVY.... oh Ivy. She has always been my shy, sensitive girl... until those first days of school. She grew up so much in that first week. Then the fire drill happened. According to her teacher, Ivy was pushing her out the door. She cried and was terrified. Then the accidents started. I was noticing that she was having wet pants several days of the week. It took several conversations with Ivy to finally figure out that she wasn't going to the bathroom at school. Several more conversations to figure out that there is a fire alarm in the bathroom and she is terrified that it will go off while she is in there.. by herself. I feel so terrible for her, as did her teacher when I told her of the problem. The day I talked to her teacher she went to the bathroom, with her teacher waiting outside. After school she was so proud to tell me that she had done that. And with the biggest smile said "my teacher wasn't even mad when I asked her if I could go to the bathroom." Yep, still shy & sensitive.
Today I recieved my first call from the school nurse. Ivy was in the nurses office with an earache. I was caught off guard and couldn't think of what to do. Sometimes the nursing brain just doesn't kick in fast enough. After a few seconds of thought... if felt like minutes... I decided to take her to the Dr's office. Especially since she just finished a course of antibiotics for a long lasting cough. I get to the nurses office and find her laying on the bed looking pathetic, all I wanted to do was hold her & cry. I stayed strong and off we went to the pediatricins. Walking to the van she asked if she could go to Runza & play in the playground. Silly girl. I am glad we went to the Dr's because she has ear infections in both ears. The appt. ends with stickers & suckers and Ivy wanting to go back to school. What a trooper. I hope all our nurse calls go that smoothly.

Kindergarten

My babies are now big kindergarteners. I had alot of tears leading up to the big day. As much as I struggled with them during day, I was really sad to know that they were leaving me. My babies are growning up. The elementary school they are going to has 180 kindergarteners and 8 kindergarten classes. Because there are so many classes, the school has all the kindergarteners start in the gym, lined up by class. The kids wait there for their teachers to come get them. I go each morning with them to the gym and wait for them to leave for their class. I love taking them and getting from school everyday. You are probably wondering what I do with all my freetime now. I am getting my house in order, cleaning and errand running... all without kids. I do have to admit that I have been looking forward to doing all these things without kids. SuperTarget has become my best friend. I enjoy doing my shopping there and then just wondering..... I am getting good at not buying things. I am also starting to update my blog... as you may have noticed I am behind at this.

Ivy the kindergartener

Ivy has suprised me the most with her response to school. She has always been my shy & sensitive child, so when considering splitting them for school she was the one I worried about. When we told them they would be split up she cried and said they needed to stay together. Always together has been her motto. I did alot of worrying for nothing. She has done the best! The first day of school she sat across from Alison in the gym waiting for their teachers to come get them. Alison kept trying to get her attention and Ivy's response was priceless. With a small turn of her head she said "Alison, shhhh, leave me alone!" And that has been that. My sensitive girl is all grown up. She is also the one to have clothes drama already. She will be fun during those teen years! Fun on Brians wallet that is.

Alison the kindergartener

Alison was so excited to start school. I always thought she would adjust the best to starting school and being in her own classroom. She proved me wrong. Don't get me wrong, she did great but she would try and pull the scared card, just like her brother, and I would tell her I didn't believe her and to get back into line. What a turkey. This summer I emailed the principle about each of the kids to help with teacher placement. I was especially concered about Alison because she was already reading and I didn't want her to lose that. She got paired up with a 1st grade teacher that has been brought down to teach kindergarten this year. Her teacher is excited to work with her on her reading and I have high hopes for Alison this year.

Joseph the kindergartener

Joseph stuggled the most with kindergarten starting. He was the kid that I thought would be easy going and enjoy making new friends.... especially boy friends. That is not the way things went. He cried the first 5 days of school. At least he cried while I was there and once in his classroom the tears stopped and he enjoyed the day. 2 mornings he ran out of his classroom crying and looking for me, only to be followed by his teacher running after him. One morning they wanted me to leave them at the front door. Everyone gave me a kiss and walked into the gym, as I turned to walk away I heard Joe running after me and yes, crying. I was amazed that he made it all the way out the front doors of the school. When I asked him what his favorite part of the day was he said "the whole day, except the getting there." I had just as many mornings of crying as he did. I felt horrible that he was struggling and for the first time in his life he was having to do it all by himself. I am happy to say that he is finally enjoying school and has made some new friends. Now when I drop him off I wait for his class to leave the gym and then he gives me the wave to leave. It always comes with a smile. A smile that melts my heart and has me excited to pick him up.

Alison's surgery

Alison had surgery to take her Adenoids taken out in July. She snores something terrible. We figured it would be best to take care of that before school started. She was such a trooper. The nurses gave her special rewards for having her blood drawn like a big girl. She stayed busy making a necklace with beads, putting a trash can together & playing with warm air hose. Brian & I stayed in her room while she went to surgery. The surgery only lasted 20 mins. The Dr. said she did great and should be snore free. She was very sleepy when she got back to the room and just wanted to go home..... she cried to go home all while she was sleeping. I loved snuggling with her while she rested. She was released 2 hours after surgery and wanted to go straight to Target to pick out a reward. That is Alison... nothing slows her down. She did great, she no longer is snoring and can actually breathe at night when she has a cold.