September is upon us. I’m back to blogging after my August pause. Life has been very busy and peppered with bits of flurry, but more on that later. School is about to start.
As we all return back to the routine of the fall and ready ourselves for winter, it’s a good time to check in on where we stand. This month really can feel like packing our cheeks with acorns. The transition to school brings on all sorts of stress, anxiety, sleep changes, and anticipation. Of course, it also brings great joy. So many parents, friends, and families relay sadness they feel on the first day of school (particularly Kindergarten). We shed a layer of innocence it seems when our kids advance. However, one good friend recently described his son’s first day of Kindergarten as one of the happiest of his life. He mentioned he could tell me, unlike other days, what his son was wearing, the pace of his son’s stride that morning as they walked to school, and how he remembers clearly the huge sense of pride both he and his son felt when they landed in the classroom. It was by all accounts, “Marvelous and immensely joyful,” he said. It’s his description that is allowing me to keep my chin up.
We flew kites with friends in celebration of the last night of summer tonight. I teared up at bedtime. It isn’t going to be pretty. Not only does F start Kindergarten this week, he also just announced a wiggly tooth. Be still my Mama-heart…
The beginning of the academic calendar marks a perfect time to pen in milestones for the memory books. Utilizing my coping mechanism for the school start this week, I did an impromptu interview with F on Friday. It wasn’t premeditated so it’s not entirely sophisticated and therefore, very reproducible. I’m hoping to make it an annual tradition to help me both mark transitions but also celebrate his incredible journey growing up. Here’s the 20-question interview with his verbatim responses. Please feel free to provide added suggestions for questions and I’ll do a a follow-up interview!
5 Year-Old Interview, 5 Days Prior To Kindergarten Start
- What is your favorite color? “Yellow”
- Favorite number? “5”
- Favorite food?: “Strawberries”
- Favorite toy?: “This is going to be a tiny bit hard……airplanes.”
- What are you most happy about this summer? “I got to spend more time with Mommy and Daddy” (be still my heart, again)
- Favorite memory from the summer? “Going through the Costco carwash.” (you can’t make this stuff up)
- Favorite place we went this summer?: “Wisconsin. Best part of being there was jumping off the dock into the lake.”
- What are you really good at? “Biking. I learned to ride a bike on June 10th.”
- What is hard for you?: “Going down slides—when I have to put my feet up.”
- What is your favorite thing to do at home? Play with toys.
- Who is your best friend?: “This is tiny, eansy bit hard. [pause] Jasper.”
- What do you want to do when you grow up? “I might change my mind. But I think an air traffic controller.” (good thing nothing is set in stone)
- What do you think your brother will do? “Don’t even know. [pause] No guesses.” (I feel just the same way)
- Where do you want to live when you grow up? “In a house.”
- If you could have a super power what would it be? “I’d be able to squirt noodles out of my hands. I could make pasta and wouldn’t have to cook it.”
- Where do you want to travel? “Africa.” I then asked, ‘A specific country?’ He replied, “South Africa.”
- What is your favorite airplane? “If I had to choose between all my planes, I would choose Frontier.” Why? “No idea.”
- What is your favorite book? “Piggies”
- What is your favorite song? “All You Need Is Love.”
- How would you describe your brother? “He has blond hair. He’s a boy. He’s fun.” (I had to pull that last one out of him)
Have any other first day of school traditions? Any advice for a parent on the brink of school day number one?
Susi says
Love the survey! We had to do something similar as our daughter is starting preschool and they want to decorate their cubbies with lists/pictures of their favorite things. I’m hoping to continue this every year and start the tradition with our 1st grader. Definitely going to add some of the prompts you came up with 🙂
For our son’s first day of kindergarten, our friends snapped a picture of him with his best friend out on the yard as they were lining up. His look is a mix of uncertainty/fear and “boy, am I glad I’ve got my best friend next to me”. When you look closely you can see how tightly he’s gripping her hand. This year, we wanted to reproduce that moment so we took a picture of the two of them. This time it was arms around the shoulders, relaxed smiles and a feeling of readiness for 1st grade. Will be interesting to see what the following years bring. Good luck as you start school F and hang in there Mamadoc!!
Kacey Haffner-Bruce says
with my first born entering kindergarten in September.. I am very excited to read back on these blogs and be inspired to let her go a little bit easier 🙂