Kindergarten News

So my big guy is getting acclimated to kindergarten. Anne and I love comparing notes as her kindergartener is in the same class with Ty and they have unique perspectives. Between the two, we have a pretty good idea how the class is operated. The teacher has her hands full but is running a smooth operation. Ty and one of his new friends have a secret handshake. Ty's taught it to anyone and everyone; the concept of secret still aloof.

He's writing all his friend's names in a notebook using both capital and lower case letters; a concept he refused for me. He not only knows how to spell their names, he knows what bus route most of the kids in the class take. He is very aware of all that is going on around him at school.

I slipped a love note into his lunch box this week. He got of the bus that afternoon still clutching it in his sweaty little hand. He held it out to me and asked me to read it. I did and reminded him he already knew those words. He then told me Isaiah said he could read it but wouldn't say what it said. Smile.

So the teacher has both the color code behavior system and also a secondary system to help keep track of rules. The second system contains bubbles. If they keep the majority of their bubbles, they earn a piece of gum at the end of the week. These are for minor offenses because there are two little boys in the class screaming at the teacher so moving colors is reserved for these bigger offenses. Ty and his new buddies didn't know the teacher was talking and continued their discussion so all three boys lost one bubble. "It was the worst day ever".  We have assured him there is a big difference between a mistake and willfully breaking the rule. He lost a bubble and learned something. He will be okay and we love him no matter how many bubbles or color changes he receives at school. We are raising children who live in fear of breaking rules at school so the color system stresses them out. The kids yelling at the teacher don't care about the color system. Why do they insist upon a color system?

I sit on my swing as the kids board the bus each morning. I am usually on the swing when they get off too. Ty has asked me to wait on the bus until it swings back by each morning because his side of the bus looks out to our side of the street as it passes. We wave at each other until he is out of sight every morning. How many years do you think he will want this? Kate already doesn't wave. I was thinking about that Friday morning when I went in to tidy up their room and discovered Ty's blanket still folded at the bottom of his bed. It had been there the last three mornings. He isn't sleeping with it much anymore. I busted into our bedroom, startling Greg with a weepy explanation. He was bewildered, as usual.

Ty came home from school Friday with nastiest cold sore outbreak he's had in years. I was prepared for one within the first few weeks of school due to stress and germs but I didn't think it would be this bad because I had been using Lysine in his water for a few weeks prior to school to boost his immunity. He felt awful and grabbed his blanket to watch a movie with me Friday night. Greg grinned and nodded in my direction. Ty is still my baby.  And maybe Greg's wife will settle down already.