My little man spent the first year of his life in daycare; actually, he attended from the time he was six weeks old until just after his first birthday. I worked there so it wasn't the typical situation. I still saw his first attempts as walking, saw him sleeping at naptime (which for a newborn was frequent), got to see him play with other babies, freaked at his numerous ear infections, panicked when another baby had ringworm and was still at the daycare, smiled when he had his first 'school' portrait and cried when he got bit on the head just before his baptism so he'd have that wonderful scab on his head for his pictures.
I can honestly say it was a rollercoaster and that didn't even include my own personal drama from being employed there.
Now, my time has come to cut the apron strings. I homeschooled him for preschool mostly out of necessity since our school district didn't offer a program and most area centers were expensive. Over the last year we followed an online school's program and my son thrivedI can't believe how much he learned and when kindergarten registration came last March he was able to do everything on the requirements list: count to 30, recite his phone number, name his colors, etc.
The homeschool program also has him doing addition, subtraction, reading, writing and we just started working with money. Yes, we're still finishing it up since we started late and it's a self paced program. Honestly until a few weeks ago I wasn't sure if we would continue the homeschool program or go to the traditional school down the road. We're going with the traditional way for now to see how he does. We're concerned that he covered more over the last year than his peers and may be bored next year but hopefully they keep him interested and active in class.
We got his backpack the other night and a few supplies. He was all excited to finally get to buy a backpack and he's been packing it daily with what he needs to bring to school. Note to self: check the pack his first day since apparently the television remote is one of his necessities for school. :)
Today I did some online shopping and got him a new wardrobe for back to school; pants, shorts, t-shirts, button downs and such. The thought of him looking nice everyday so other kids don't say anything is in the back of my mind. I went to Catholic school for most of my academic career so I didn't have to worry about what to wear. I've heard stories about kids getting made fun of or beaten up over their clothes which is ridiculous. Just another thing for me to stress as a Mom.
I worry about buillies since I don't have an aggressive little man. If someone takes a toy he's playing with at a playdate he'll ask them why they took it and then move on. Sometimes he'll come over to me and let me know if someone bonks him on the head with something or takes his toy. I tell him to let it go - things happen and as long as he's not seriously injured just move on and go away. What will happen in school if someone says or does something to him. Will he be popular? Will the other kids be decent? We live in a nice neighborhood but there are always 'a certain few' who make you wonder where they came from. Their behavior is awful and the parents don't see a problem with it.
So as my little man becomes a school-aged kiddo and goes off on his own for the day I hope that I taught him well. I hope he respects his teacher and other adults at the school, is a good friend to classmates, avoids the less desirable kids and keeps his love of learning...most of all I hope he has fun since he has many years of school ahead of him.
As for me - I just hope to hold back the tears those first few mornings and stay friendly with the other moms on the PTO for the next eight years. And in my mind he'll always be my little man. . .
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