It's official. Laci is a kindergartner now. I am now the parent of an elementary student. But I'm not going to be running out to get a proud parent of an XYZ honors student sticker anytime soon.
This has been a crazy week. Full of emotion and change. For all of us. Change is hard. Monday and Tuesday hit us harder than we thought. Saying good bye to the daycare really hit me. I was a mess all day Tuesday knowing that it was her last day there. We love everyone there so much and they are so good to my children. But I think it is the safety factor that I loved about it. She has gone there for almost 5 years and we are so comfortable there. She knows everyone and everything about that school. I don't know why I was so upset. I will still go there everyday to pick up Calvin.
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| Laci on her first day of daycare. Feels like yesterday... |
Laci cried for school that morning. Charlie was sure that it was because of the big change that was coming. She kept saying how excited she was for elementary school and how sad she was to leave her friends. He tried to give her a few extra hugs. She had drama that morning over a new skirt that we tried on Monday night for the first day of kindergarten that didn't fit. I took the skirt with me to work Tuesday so we could go to the mall after school and try to return it. So she was crying because the skirt wasn't there. I wasn't sure what mood she would be in when I picked her up. She was pretty excited and skipped out of there. When I asked her about being upset that morning, she insisted that it was the skirt she was upset about that morning and not leaving school. And then she followed it up with asking if we can go to the mall.
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| Laci on her last day of daycare. It broke my heart to see this picture but she has assured me multiple times that she is only upset about the skirt. |
Wednesday morning went great. We are still working out transportation issues - some days Charlie will take both, some days I will take both and some days I will take Calvin and he will take Laci. Charlie took both kids and Laci liked going to the old school to say hi to her friends. But she was thrilled to skip out of there to go to elementary school. I was excited all day long to pick her up and hear about her adventures. Both Charlie and I goofed on the before and afterschool care pick up and went to the wrong doors / areas. In a sense, we're "kindergartners" too. She had a great day.
The hardest part for me was hearing how disappointed she was that she didn't get to ride the bus. After school, she was the only person that had to go to afterschool care and not take the bus / get picked up. It was the first time I think she realized that not everyone goes to daycare. I was upset because I felt like I am the only mother around here that works. Charlie reminded me that some kids go to afterschool daycares, some get picked up by friends and some mothers have different schedules. I'm not the only mother that works. Laci did think it was neat that she gets to play with the "big kids" afterschool. I'll try to play that up. Monday Calvin's school is closed so I am staying home with him. I will let her ride the bus to and from school that day. I hope that makes her feel better about the whole bus thing.
The other plus / minus was the food. We are really struggling with what Laci eats. She is getting pickier and it's harder to get her to eat healthy. She refuses to eat vegetables. The school now has "healthy" foods that I am not sure if she will eat. The before school care has breakfast but she has already complained about the cereal - Rice crispies and corn flakes. We reminded her that she needs to eat it anyway. She always ate lunch at daycare so having the option to bring a lunch is exciting to her. It's been fun to pack a little lunch for her - even it is her weird favorite sandwich - peanut butter and shredded cheese on pitas. If she eats it, I'll be happy. They eat lunch at 11 and then she doesn't get a snack until afterschool at 4. I know she will be hungry. I hope this forces her to eat all of her lunch and the healthy snacks they give her - even if she doesn't like them. It will take time to figure all of this out. She ate a ton at dinner tonight. The food thing is really a whole other issue but I hope that going to school helps with that also.
The biggest surprise was how Calvin reacted. I didn't even think of how this would effect Calvin until a few weeks ago when Laci spent a couple of days at her grandmas and wasn't at school. He misses her. Today, his teacher said that he asked about her day whenever they were in the hallway or lunchroom, times they normally saw her. When i picked him up, he asked about her. I told her we had to pick her up at school. He still thought I meant the daycare and assumed she was playing outside with the rest of the kids. He went crazy when I put him the car and pulled out of there without. He thought we were leaving her at the playground! The entire 10 minute drive was him saying "Laci school. Pick up Laci" over and over. She liked that he missed her. Even though we explained that she was going to a new school, he is too young to understand what that means. This week was really an adjustment for all 4 of us!
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