School Daze..Time Marches On

Is it really happening?  Can our summer be coming to an end and is Christian really starting JK at Webber?  After all the research, the application and interview process and all of the mental planning that happens before choosing a school that is, we hope, the best fit for Christian, the big day finally arrives and the 08-09 school year begins.  It's strange to think Mark and I have been thinking about this day since we arrived in Calgary two years ago.  Marking the school year 08-09 on the application back then seemed so foreign and distant, almost a joke.  But, as time waits for no one, here we are 08.25.08

Liam woke up early today at 6 am- -the time I set the alarm to get myself ready and make breakfast so that we could leave on time at 8:10.  So, of course, the best laid plans did go astray this morning, but we managed to get the two kiddies ready for the big drop off, dress shirt, dress pants, tie and "blazer" and all.  Christian was happy to be going to his new school this morning, though not as effusive with emotion as he was last year on the first day of CPS where he was literally skipping down the street and down the hall to his classroom.  Perhaps dressing him in his uniform in the morning signaled to Christian that there was something more formal about this year than last year with Mrs. Robertson, or perhaps it was just waking up earlier than normal that kept him more subdued.  After taking off our outdoor shoes and changing into our inside dress shoes, we found Vicky Polson's classroom aka "Mrs. Polson's" classroom. 

There are 24 kids in Christian's class, double the size of his Calgary Prep class, though there are two aids to assist Mrs. P0lson.  Many kids had already arrived; some boys had built some sort of wooden fortress for parking their toy cars; not surprisingly, Christian honed in on that and got right into the action.  It is interesting to watch how boys can just jump right in and play with other boys as if they have known each other forever, whereas, it seems that girls are a little more cautious and selective about who they play with.  Christian was having a good time and seemed pretty indifferent about whether Mark or I was there.  Liam played with the plastic animals and was interested in what was going on.  He was also looking for the "bobbie" (aka Sesame Street Elmo) book he saw in the class last week when we came for the new families breakfast.  We stayed for about 5 minutes, said our goodbyes and were off to the market.

As we left Christian's classroom, I told Mark that I got a little bit teary eyed.  I think my emotions stemmed from my feelings that summer with the two kids was too short; where did all the time go?  You remember summer vacation as a kid and as I recall it, it seemed quite long.  I still remember like it was yesterday the last day at Calgary Prep and our ice cream picnic at the school to celebrate the end of the school year.  I also thought about how little time I'll have with Christian now that he is going to school five days a week, albeit half days.  I almost felt like we were pushing him out of the house, into this big bad world of school.  Soon it won't just be preschool; before you know it he'll be in first grade.  I'll miss those lazy days where we didn't have anything to do except play.  I also was emotional thinking about what Christian must be thinking about on his first day as I remember the first day of kindergarten feeling alone even though there were tons of kids and a nice teacher, Mrs. Powell.  He and the rest of his classmates must have lots of feelings about this big day, but are too young to articulate fully what they feel.  

Liam and I arrived to pick Christian up at 11:30.  Liam liked walking in and out of some of the other classrooms that were in session while we waited for Christian's class to be dismissed. Christian seemed pretty happy about his first day.  The first thing he told me was that he was not listening in the playground when he and his new friend starting throwing rocks at the bottom of the slide.  I hope this is not a sign of things to come...I asked him what he did after playing with the cars and he told me he "read" some car books, the teacher read a book to the class, they did puzzles, went outside to the playground, bathroom break and had a snack.  Mrs. Paulson told me he did really well today, though she didn't mention the rock incident to me. 

Christian is pretty funny when it comes to recounting the school day.  He always tells me what struck him the most in school right away.  Typically it is recalling who didn't listen; this week it was recounting the story of Mrs. Polson helping Jonathan take off his eye patch "because his eye wasn't sleeping anymore".  He'll also tell me if someone got hurt in the playground and whether another kid wanted some of his snack.  As the day goes by, he'll tell me more and more about what happened at school.  I found it extremely funny when he was telling me he wasn't listening in the playground as that is almost the exact same story he told me last year during the first week at CPS.  As a mother, you just want to die when you hear that.  I talked to Mrs. Polson to make sure Christian was OK and she told me that she recognized Christian was a good kid, but that his friend Dillon was not behaving.  Mrs. Polson told me she already separated Christian and Dillon and recognized that it was Dillon who was the ring leader.  Glad to say that this was the last incident of failing to listen.  Hopefully, Christian realizes that listening is the right thing to do in school.