Kindergarten

[fyshmom]

I am feeling a mix of feelings right now…. I went out to lunch today with a good friend of mine; I wanted to interview her for a research project I'm doing. (I'm working on a project called "Trauma and Tradition" about healing trauma through traditional / tribal / ceremonial means and she is a non-Western trauma counselor who uses these types of

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[barenakedrachel]

When I say I sometimes face the concerns you mention, one example of a minor worry I had a few weeks ago: there was a homework assignment to watch a TV commercial and answer a set of questions about it, such as what was the commercial selling, do you think this product is necessary, do you think the claims made in the advertisement are really true? I was torn about what to do because we don't watch commercials, but I judged the assignment to be a "good" one overall because it presented the opportunity to actually discuss the agenda of the marketing world. I do have a TV and DishNetwork (satellite) with DVR service so I can record shows that I'm OK with them watching and pick my own times for them to watch stuff - and no commercials, but I had no desire to sit down and actually TRY to find a commercial on live television!!! I wanted Jacob to be able to complete the assignment, but I did not want to spend time watching commercials!!! Eeek! So I wrote a short note at the top of the page explaining that we have a family policy of being commercial-free (even I cannot stand them, they make my brain hurt!), and instead of a television commercial we chose an ad in the newspaper that was for the grocery store where I work. Jacob loved this :) We picked a 10 for $10 sale and talked about "do you really NEED to buy 10 of these!?!?" and discussed the price, compared ads to another store and talked about the price differences, etc. I was kind of nervous to have him turn that in because it was not exactly following the assignment... The teacher thought it was FABULOUS and was actually glad to hear we don't watch commercials, told Jacob she was thrilled to see him come up with an alternative, think outside the box (she actually said that!), so... phew. That went over very well, I think :)

As for the first day? Well, the first day of preschool was harder than the first day of Kindergarten, I think. For me :) Lol. Jacob was fine both "first days"! With preschool, he was very concerned about me leaving, but the teachers did not want us to linger because they swore up and down that it really did make it harder for the kids... and even if it made it easier for one child, it might make it harder for another child whose parent either chose not to stay or could not stay. So they were quite serious about us not lingering. So I told Jacob I would be nearby, in the van, maybe let Jared take a nap in the parking lot and that I would not really leave.... unless Jared cried and then I would drive him around to get him to fall asleep. So... that was kind of a "lie", since I did not plan on actually hanging out in the parking lot (and they told us not to do this because if a child was upset they might go for a walk to explore the grounds and if they saw their car/van sitting out there, it'd set them back to ground zero again). But this "lie" enabled me to tell him that I was going to be gone, but nearby. This worked. I don't recommend white lies AT ALL - it's just something I knew in that moment would work for *him*. I cried for a few minutes out in the van and then went to Kroger, two miles away, until school was over! LOL!! After that first day, it was a breeze!

As for Kindergarten, no problems. They had a stellar open house the day before with open-play for the kids while the parents got to chat with each other and talk to the teacher. I drove him to school for the first two weeks and then he's taken the bus ever since :) I was totally anti-bus at first, but the school is like 15 minutes away (um, yeah, sprawling farm country out here, so the school district covers a large area) and it was getting in the way of Jared's nap to drive him AND pick him up. I think I transitioned by driving him to school and then having him take the bus home. He fell in love with the super awesome yellow school bus and has used it ever since (aside from days I am running late and we miss it). The bus drivers do a great job - I've been nothing but impressed!