Thursday, September 3, 2009

Kindergarten or Bust

Alli started Kindergarten last week, and I cried. I tried not to, but the moment I watched her walk away into her new classroom, I choked. I'm the one who's supposed to teach her new things and play with her! It was like turning her over to who knows what behind that door--something I'm not a part of, and that made me a little sad. But there's no going back now. She's got to start making her own way in the world, I guess. At least it's a small one for now. At least it's not her first date with some crummy boy. Man, milestones are harder than I anticipated...
I was surprised, actually, because Alli had a hard time going back to Kindergarten after all the anticipation and excitement for the past couple of years. Ever since she knew what Kindergarten was, it's been the Holy Grail of kid-hood. Already the legend has passed down to Maddie, and all I hear about now are "pat-packs" and her lunch box that she's going to have. Alli doesn't even have a lunch box yet, so I guess part of the lore has gotten lost in translation. This is the beloved back-pack, however, that Grandma Pat bought for Alli:
After a great day with her new teacher Mrs. Wright, Alli couldn't stop talking about school. She was thrilled... Until about two in the morning when she started throwing up. I didn't know if it was school-time jitters or the real deal, so I kept her home. When Monday finally arrived, Alli had decided that school was not for her. She cried and cried about it, and I didn't know what to do. Finally, I made her a promise. Go to school for the entire month of September, and if you still hate it, you can have school at home with Mom. (I'm thinking this sounds really lame, but it calmed her right down.) She's been going ever since, making lots of friends, doing her homework with zeal, and most importantly, not crying about it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for October.