Getting Through the First Week of Kindergarten

My sweetheart goes to “big school”

First day of school bus stop pictures taken by my MIL- I love the King of Kindergarten Crown

Today we have made it through the first week of kindergarten again. We now have two kids in elementary school. My 7 yo is seeming very grown as he becomes more independent in getting ready and even helped ensure his brother was awake on time for their first day of school. He’s also been updating our daily magnet calendar every morning, and he drew the nervous emoji face for the mood magnet.

Last year I wrote about my youngest child starting his last year of preschool. I said we would be so sad to leave our sweet school.

My 5 yo had his last day of preschool a week ago. We had a great routine where I would walk him in and chat to his teachers briefly while he washed his hands. Then we would have a 10 second hug where I counted out loud, kissed each other on the cheek, and say “I love you, have a great day.” Then he would tell me to say bye at the door and he would wave bye as I closed the door. This was always the best part of my day especially when he reminded me of the different parts of the routine. We had been doing this routine for about 2 years. When my oldest started kindergarten, his brother had a hard time being at different schools and we would get stuck in a long drawn out goodbye. I had to come up with a quicker routine.

Last Friday, drop-off went smoothly and I told our favorite teacher he didn’t want to talk about it being his last day. This teacher has been teaching my boys for nearly 4 years since fall 2020 and taught both of them for 2 classroom years when they were 3.5 until they started kindergarten. We were briefly reminiscing about how long she had daily interactions with our family. I left before I got teary. We gave Thank You gift cards to each teacher, and my kid very cutely handed them out at drop-off while giving his teachers hugs. At pickup we told everyone we would see them at preschool graduation because our extended year calendar made him start kindergarten before the graduation ceremony.

This week I have walked him to his kindergarten class and have still done our routine at the door. I started using car line by the second week with my oldest child but due to construction on a neighboring school, the kindergarten hall is much further from the entrance and my child has told me he’s still not comfortable with being dropped off at the exterior door of the school. This morning my oldest wanted to eat breakfast with friends and 5 yo wanted to stay with him. I sat with him, and talked to my 7 yo about watching out for his brother when it’s literally the first week of school and he doesn’t have a friend group yet. They also told me they wanted me to walk them in for a month, but for now I said I would give it one more week.

It is very strange to be done going to the preschool where I went for 5 years. I still feel like I’m forgetting to go somewhere now that we only have one drop-off. My kids are riding the bus home, and my life is suddenly 1000 times easier than last week when I had to drive to multiple locations for camp and preschool drop-off and pickup.

As mentioned in my August 1 post, my husband has morning practice daily during this start of the high school soccer season.

I have also talked about the transition into starting soccer season in many comments on other Substack posts this week. 11 years in I know what to expect, but it has never gotten easier. He is not part of the morning rush right now though he has been there to say goodbye every morning.

We had an unexpected day off due to potential flooding on Thursday, and we all could stay home together. I wish I could say we had a super chill day at home, but relaxing day has never been in my kids’ vocabulary. Around 9 am when my husband was making omelets, I told my kids we were going to write a schedule and try to reset the day. My 5 yo had been crying about his brother eating half of his bagel. He had said he wasn’t eating it but apparently he still didn’t want anyone else to eat it either. After each kid had reading time and were told to do one chore that would contribute to the house (5 yo chose to wipe down windows because he loves the squeegee, 7 yo picked up playroom), my husband sat down to watch an Olympic soccer game. They started climbing on him and over his head, and we decided we needed a change of scenery.

We live across the street from my in-laws; I’ve previously written about living on the compound. Sometimes I feel guilty talking to friends with in-law problems because mine are the best.

My MIL works from home so we try to time visits around her work schedule. When I feel like I’m flailing at home, it’s always an easy go-to solution to go across the street. My in-laws were the only people in our original bubble during lockdown, and our daily visits always gave me back some sense of sanity.

My MIL suggested we could try to go to the movie theater right up the hill from our house. There had been consistent rain and wind but no flooding near our neighborhood. She made my kids olive oil and parmesan pasta for lunch, and then I took them to the movies. We had wanted to see Harold and the Purple Crayon on Monday but my 7 yo got an invitation to the water park with his cousin and needed to stay home after a 7 hour outing.

Everyone has been a little edgier than usual. I bought The Connection Challenge from Vanessa and Xander Marin because I see my husband and I struggling to make time for each other during this transitional time.

It is risk free for 5 days, but it lasts 30 days. It includes one communication challenge and one action challenge per day along with a journal for notes. It has helped us talk more about us as a couple rather than more logistical talks at the end of the day. We are currently working on planning our 10 year anniversary trip to Hawaii. Though planning can be fun, I wanted some more romantic connection as we discuss the longest trip we have taken as a couple. Today he made me lunch after his practice, and we did the action challenge to make a playlist of songs meaningful to our relationship. Since we were both working from home, it made the afternoon more enjoyable to listen to songs meaningful to both of us.

With an extended year calendar, we get a head start on the rest of the county adjusting to our new routines. I know it will continue to be an adjustment, and I’m back on my 5 hour sleep schedule as the overwhelm takes over my brain the minute I initially wake up after falling asleep easily. I know it will pass and we will feel normal again.

I wish everyone a good school year; back to school is always a lot no matter how many years it’s been part of the family routine. Please comment if there’s any great systems that work for your family during this busy time. I’m always interested to hear about other people’s routines.