Away We Go

Some new fun adventures from Kindergarten.

A few weeks in, Ally came home with a note. It was a copy of a hand-written note she had written which said, "Dear Tom, I'm sorry I grabbed your neck. Next time I will use my words." (name are changed to protect the innocent).

Yikes.

Well, now it's go-time. What kind of Mom am I going to be? I want to be the kind that supports my teachers...I have enough teacher friends to know that they deal with way too much this:

So, we sat down with Ally and talked about how that wasn't acceptable Buffington behavior.

Buffingtons are nice, Buffingtons are kind, Buffingtons share, and Buffingtons don't hurt their friends. She was on board with this. But just for good measure, I threw in, "And if it happens again I'm going to throw away your toys."

Yup, good parenting there.

So yesterday, I decide to go have lunch with her at school (it was one of my favorite days ever, by the way), but the first thing I notice when I get there is a note on her backpack. This time, it's handwritten from Tom: "Dear Ally, I'm sorry I pinched your face."

So apparently they have something going on.

But lunch was the most fun I've had in a long time. It's glorious to have someone talk you up the whole time, "Hey guys, this is my mom. Have you met my mom? Say hi to my mom." After lunch, I walked with her down to the playground. I'm not sure if this is allowed, but no one yelled at me, so I just sat down and watched for a bit. She even asked if she could sit on my lap (I'm so happy she's not embarrassed of me yet!). I said sure, and then her friend wanted to sit on my lap. So we made a sandwich. And then another friend wanted to sit on our lap, so we made an ice-cream cone until I decided I should probably go back to work.

These girls are the best:

Kindergarten

And suddenly she's in Kindergarten.


Riding the bus, even. For some reason, summer school kindergarten didn't phase me, but dropping her off at school on that first day in September, I wanted to grab her and run away. I didn't let her see me upset, but after I dropped her off, seeing all the crowds of parents and kids in the hall, I just felt like I was turning her over to the system...I cried all the way to work.
Here's Day 2 Riding the Bus:



Let me just say, she has loved every day since. She loves Mrs. Moore, she loves her class, she loves riding the school bus (and hates the thought we might miss the bus). Though she still asks for "5 more minutes" in the morning, she then cheerfully gets up and gets ready.
I thought for sure all-day Kindergarten would take such a toll on her, but she is such a champ and loves every minute of it. Oh, Ally, I'm your biggest fan.