Ch-ch-ch-changes
Friday, August 27, 2010 at 9:46PM The first day of school is not something I often look forward to...there is such a grueling transition from the summer schedule to the school schedule, as well as all of the things that have to get tended to in order to have a successful school year. I am one who has a hard time accomplishing things when other people are expecting me to do said things. I fear I can't live up to the expectation, and therefore want to give up before I even start. This includes things like helping my kids have a good school year. There are always events or groups in which to participate, and that stuff stresses me out.
However. After our summer, full of unexpected occurences and empty of pretty much any routine, the school year was looking pretty appealing this time around. And I was pleasantly surprised on the first day how smoothly things went.
At first.
But we'll get to that in a minute.
Christian had no problem getting up and getting ready for school. His clothes were all ready, we even knew where his belt was, and he ate breakfast and got dressed without any disagreeableness. At his school, the first day is very short (ridiculously short...but, whatever), and they have a Parent Coffee downstairs for moms and dads to finish signing or turning in paperwork, pick up carpool tags, and buy used uniform pieces if they need to. We needed to do all of the above. So, we headed out, everyone together, up the sidewalk in order to drop Christian off in his classroom and then get Eliana her uniforms. Oh, yes, her uniforms. I said we'll get to that in a minute.
Christian hid behind Eliana when I brought out the camera. He wanted to wear his blue shorts with the white polo. And so he did. (Can you call them polos when they're not Ralph Lauren? I'm gonna.)
I don't know if she was telling him he'd have fun on his first day of school, or if he was telling her she would have fun on her first day of school...
His class is small (8), but his classroom is huge! They have the room in which they are seated at desks, as well as the room through the doors in the back there. What a space!
We dropped him off, and that was that. He seemed quite content. Most of the kids are from his class last year; there are two new students and I hope that they all get along well.
After we left Christian we went down to the basement (it's actually an amazing center for the youth group) in order to take care of the uniforms and a couple of other things. I got Eliana some shirts and jumpers, a sweatshirt, and a bow. Oh, my. The bow. At this point in the day, she was aware that she was starting school that day, but the reality of that phrase "starting school" had not sunk in. We got home and I washed all of her new things (because it's me...remember?) and we went to pick up Christian and then had lunch. (Yes, he was done well before lunch. I told you, ridiculously short.) After lunch we told Eliana it was time to put on her uniform.
And the end of the world came upon us.
There was much weeping and gnashing of teeth, wailing and flailing and falling over limp as if dead, except for the screaming,"NONONONONO!!!" We could not get her shirt on because she refused, nay, opposed and prohibited us from, putting her arms through the sleeves. She ran away to the other side of the couch and cried so miserably that I just put my face in my hands and thought,"This is such a mistake!" as Mike finally picked her up and held her in his lap.
Mike is The Eliana Whisperer.
After a couple of minutes, or maybe not even that long, her little body relaxed in his lap. He said something in her ear, and then he prayed for her and for her day. She did not stop whimpering but she did resign herself to the fact that she was, indeed, going to put that shirt on. And the jumper followed the shirt, and then her socks and her shoes. She was still crying, a little quieter now, and I held her at the front door. We were all going to walk her over to the church (she is in the same school as Christian now) but I went ahead with her out the door. I had managed to get her to stop crying so she could listen to what I was saying. I asked her questions about school last year, her friends, and the fun things that she did in co-op. Then she wiped her nose, for as you all know, when the tears flow, so does the snot. She held up her hand and said,"Uh, oh." I told her that was okay, and then instructed her to wipe her hand on my shirt.
The life of a mom is so glamorous. And just so you know, I wore that shirt the entire rest of the day.
She thought that was quite funny, to wipe her snotty hand on my shirt, and did it two more times. By the time we got to the school, there were no more tears; they had been replaced by curious concern. We said hello to the teachers, we peeked over the half-door, and then I carried her inside the classroom. We saw her cubby, with a little frog inside that said "Eliana" (in writing...it didn't talk! That would have freaked her out pretty thoroughly.), and we hung her bag on the hook inside the cubby. I showed her all of the fun things to do: a kitchen, large plastic animals to play with, play dough, puzzles. I talked to the teachers for a few minutes, got some instructions (this was, after all, in true Walker form, a last-minute admittance to school), and then held her once more; I told her to pick one of the fun activities to do. She looked around for a minute and chose the play dough. (Of course. Preschool play dough is so gross...because of children like mine.) I carried her to the table, set her down, and she attended to the dough immediately. I spoke to the teachers for one more minute, and heard her cry out,"Look at my star!" I did look at her star, gave her a high-five, and walked out the door.
I cried.
What a miracle! I was so happy that she experienced such a change of heart. When I went to pick her up, the teacher at the door said she was great, and they called to her to come over since I was there. She looked up from where the other teacher was reading a story and said,"No, I'm listening to the book." And there she sat until there was only one other little girl and the story was over.
She was so happy, and had had such a good time.
The rest of this week has been a breeze, except of course Wednesday when she fussed because she didn't get to go to school.
She's getting so big! She told me that next week was when they start Driver's Ed.
I don't think I'm ready for that. I'll have to write a letter of complaint to the person in charge.
But, until someone figures out a way to stop time, I suppose I'm stuck with these kids who keep growing. Michaela is about to enter The Double Digits. The Double Digits!
Christian will be eight on his next birthday. Eight! And he is in the second grade. The second grade!
And the child I gave birth to just last week is telling me she's three. Three!
It is now fully confirmable that I live in an alternate universe, and therefore am unable to accept the reality that this world puts forth as true.
Kidding! That would be a problem, now, wouldn't it? Here is the truth...change is hard, but the challenge should prove to be a good one this year. I think that has been made abundantly clear in the last five days. It is good to see and hear the message: WE CAN HANDLE THE CHANGE!
Now, I just have to repeat that over and over and over for the next several months. And we'll be just fine.
By "we'll" I mean "I'll". They already are.
Reader Comments (5)
So fun! I know, these kids are growing up too fast. Anna wants to go to school so bad. But she doesn't turn three until December so she will stick with me for at least another year. Maybe a couple mornings a week somewhere next year. But yes, Evan started 2nd grade too and it just doesn't seem possible. Glad you're blogging again. I missed you.
Eliana in a uniform is just too precious!! So does this mean that potty training was successfully completed?
Kristina, I saw your pictures of Evan and I think it's so crazy that these boys are so old!!
Wendy, potty-training...mostly successful. :) She's wearing undies all of the time, and sleeps in them too. Crazy.
Hey! You're blogging again!
I'll have to catch back up...
Oh my goodness. She must definitely be the cutest child in any uniform ever. Congrats on pre-school! IMHO, pre-school is the highlight of the school years. Songs, snacks, play time . . . what's not to love?