Thursday, August 07, 2008

A First for everyone

We left Tristan yesterday for his very first day of kindergarten. After weeks of him going back and forth from day to day whether he was on board with the idea of big kid school or not, we met his teacher Monday night and he seemed amped up. Jer and I both walked him into class, took pictures and helped him follow the directions of Mrs.Mohler to put his lunch in the basket and hang his backpack. All was well until it was time for us to leave. I made exit first, which went fine. But when Daddy said god-bye the resistance began. Puppy-dog eyes, pleas of "no, stay" and a mild jumping/flapping fit as a class assistant stepped in the help make the transition. Jer met me in the hallway and felt horrible. "Was I just supposed to leave him all upset?"
"It's kindergarten, a right of passage." 
"But he's the only one not sitting quietly, and the ONLY one crying."
"He'll be fine, he's actually doing not too bad." I motioned to the kid in the hallway in full blown crying hysterics with his mom. "He was resistant to Pre-k to and loved it."
"I just wish someone would have helped give me direction on how to deal with this. It's my first day of kindergarten too! They do this every year, shouldn't they have tools for this?" We had reached the end of the hall and the front door was ahead. 
"Do you want to walk back and check on him?"
"YES!" We walked a bit back down the hall, "Let's not. I don't want him to see us and get more upset."
"They 'll call if it gets out of control. I'm not worried" I lied right to my husband. He's my first baby, I just left him with people I don't know, he's upset, of course I'm worried! I want to run in, scoop him up, and say he can stay home for another year. But alas, what kind mom would I be if I wasn't strong for my boys. 
At home Jer turned down pancakes before work. Too worked up I suppose. I busied myself all day til it was time to pickup. 
If not for Mims' last minute poo, I would have been 15 minutes early, instead I was 5. I waited in line 20 minutes til I reached T's class line. Mrs.Mohler helped load him into the van, explaining he was complaining of an upset tummy and she said she thought he was really hot. I looked into Tristan's face as I buckled him in and it was BAD! He was gray, clammy, and about to pass out. Definitely going into heat stroke, and I made up my mind in about 2 seconds that if he hadn't cooled off and perked up by the time we drove past the urgent care I would be taking him in. I pushed the cold juice I brought for him, turned the ac on him, and started to dig through his lunch bag. He had barely touched his juice from lunch, and odds are hadn't drank much throughout the day. He had left his cookies from lunch so I gave him those to boost the blood sugar, and insisted he drink his juice. It only took a few minutes to get color back in his cheeks, but he spent about two hours on the couch complaining of an upset stomach. Jer and I both had some concern regarding this incident, but I figured we would push through Friday and if anymore "incidents" happened we could reevaluate out school choice. Tristan was not put off at all as was ready to go back today.
This morning T and I walked the drop off zone so next week he could be dropped off with the rest of the kids and not walked in. We waited in the class line and walked to his classroom. He put away his lunch box, hung his backpack, retrieved his supplies box and sat at his table to color with his friends. I got three kisses bye, but no tears. And I was happy to see that each cubby box now had a bottle of water with each of the kids' names written in sharpie. Apparently Tristan wasn't the only issue from yesterday. I also got him a new drink box with a straw for his lunch box to encourage him to drink more. And now that I have the idea for pick-up I will either arrive early to be at the front of the line, or park next to his class line-up so I can run over and get him so he doesn't have to wait in the heat.  I'm waiting either way, just as long as he's not. 
But alas, Tristan has started kindergarten. He is five and growing up so fast. Thanks to Jer and him having a tough morning, I was spared myself going into despair.  Yes I am sad, but he is becoming a little man and growing up is inevitable. It seems so far away to think about all three kiddos off at school all day, but Tristan was just a baby yesterday. 

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