So.
Ada has Kindergarten registration & open house this Monday and it's become rather hard to ignore as the date looms impossibly close. (WHERE did my baby go? It feels to me like I just birthed her yesterday.) I do thank all of you that have listened to my incessant worrying over having to decide whether or not to send her and I think that good discussion has been had. As of now, we're planning to stick with the "play it by ear" school of thinking and see how she likes it come fall. It's my gut feeling that she will absolutely love having a gaggle of friends her own age that she sees on a regular basis. She loves learning and, heck, Kindergarten is pretty much awesome fun time as far as I can remember. Also, I've been assured by those of you familiar with the current state of public schools that not only is Hayes a good school, it's an excellent one. I've also been reassured multiple times that the things that I worry about happening to her will more than likely be a non-issue. What am I worried about? Why, I'm so glad you asked!
The biggest thing for me is that I worry about Ada being bored and getting into trouble. We've been working on Kindergarten curriculum at home this year and Ada is privileged to be a quick learner. (I know a lot of people are quick to say "My child is SO smart..." but that's not what I'm saying here. All I'm saying is that she's quick to pick things up. I don't have anyone else to compare her to so I honestly have no clue how she stacks up against other kids her age.) Mike and I were also quick learners and, when I was starting elementary school, I often got in trouble for talking during work time in class. Was I a bad kid? No. I was just done with my work way before my classmates and had nothing else to do. So, it was either horribly bored or in trouble for me until my parents got wise and started sending me to school with workbooks to do additional work in if I finished before the rest of the class. I really don't want Ada's teacher to peg her as a problem child instead of a quick learner, but I also don't want to come off as neurotic and tell the teacher about my concerns before school even starts. Ada's not a bad kid but she's certainly spirited (and not in the "spirited as a polite word for asshole" sense either) and not shy about making her opinion known. I don't like thinking that public school may try to force her to be more conforming and less exuberant and wildly creative.
Let me just put out there, for those of you who may not know, that I'm a worrier. I worry about literally everything. It's not in an unhealthy, keeps me from taking action way. I just tend to run through every possible scenario that could possibly occur before something new happens. (After taking Strengths Finder for class, I'm now writing that off as part of being labeled Strategic. Ha!) I worry Ada will be scared because she's never, EVER been away from me for that long every day on a regular basis. Hours at the elementary school run from 9:10 AM - 3:45 PM and, I have to say, those are REALLY reasonable to me. I'd been imagining that we'd all have to get used to a completely different morning routine once she was in school but, nope. I don't know that I think we'd even really have to do much in the way of rushing either. She's usually up around 8 AM so that's plenty of time to get dressed and eat since I'll be driving her to school. Driving her to school EVERY day you ask? Oh HELL yes. I might be able to get used to the idea of her going to public school and not being with me 24/7 anymore but there's no way that's happening AND I have to put her on a school bus alone too. NOT HAPPENING.
Honestly people, it would get ugly.
Yes, yes, I'm sure she'd be fine. Yes, I KNOW I rode the bus when I was in Kindergarten and blah, blah, blah. Believe me, I'm aware that the whole thing comes down to issues *I* have. I get that. It still doesn't mean I'm putting my baby on a bus. When school gets out it's usually nap time around these parts so I may have to rearrange that a little bit in order to accommodate picking her up as well. Perhaps we'll all be surprised and I'll suddenly not be a crazy person about it and will let Ada bask in her newly acquired independence. (I almost wrote that without laughing. So proud.) Odds are good though that I'll be packing her siblings up twice a day to make the trip just down the street twice a day.
Is there anything I look forward to about her starting school? Hrm... I like the idea of talking to her about her day and hearing about what she learns. I like thinking about having a bulletin board with just a shit ton of her art projects (which I'd be surprised with on her arrival home) hanging on it like it's a wall at the Louvre. I like the idea of hearing her talk about and have little friends over. I like the idea of meeting other parents who live near here and have children the same age as mine.
But, after considering the positives, I go right back to worrying. What if someone picks on her? What if someone bullies her and she punches the kid in the face? (I have no idea how I'd handle that. High five or loss of privileges? I suppose it would depend on the situation.) What if there are "mean girls" and they make my little girl sad/feel bad about herself? What if I want to punch those little girls in the face but instead get in a brawl with their obviously horrible parents? It's a lot to think about people!
I don't remember who among you gave me this gem of advice but I find myself thinking of it a lot lately (and I'm paraphrasing): If you have a good kid, it doesn't matter if they go to public school or not. They'll be a good kid either way. I'm pretty sure I have Miss Mary G. to thank for that during our discussion at Super Target but my brain is feeling mushy right now. (I was up early for my dance class and then got caught up on cleaning and did homework. Excuses, I have them!) So, there. I'm sure I'll have more to say about things once I've actually been to the school and have met the teachers. OH! That reminds me. When looking up the Kindergarten teachers at Hayes, the first one I came across was Ms. Mary Borg. Yes, that's right: BORG. Are you KIDDING me Universe? I really can't appreciate the humor there.
