First Day of Kindergarten

Well, it came. The world did not end...but for me, it has certainly changed.  Jaxon has been looking forward to/been worrying about the first day of Kinder all summer.  We could tell he was pretty nervous, so we talked about it all the time. What he was looking forward to, what he was nervous about, and how to handle it all.  We had several Family Home Evenings about being a good friend, being a good example, and making good friends. Making friends was what he was mostly worried about, being liked, etc.  And it makes sense, isn't that a major concern of all of us? How do we be true to ourselves if people don't like the real us? We just drove home the fact that kids will want to be friends with someone who is kind, fun, and MAKES GOOD CHOICES.  We also talked a lot about how kids who don't make good choices often want their "friends" to get in trouble too..and that's not a real friend.  (Jaxon is not a naughty kid, but he loves a good laugh, and often finds the naughtier kids funny...this is NOT Something we want to encourage...so we talked about that too!!)
  Anyway, On Tuesday night we laid out Jaxon's clothes, and Dave gave him a beautiful back-to-school blessing.  Jaxon was pretty happy about everything and went to bed without a hitch.  Wednesday morning, Dave and Jaxon went down for breakfast while I got ready for the day.  Before Dave left for work he started a video for J so I could finish getting ready, and this is always how our mornings go.  I finished up and went to get Jax to put on shoes, do hair, get folder, water bottle, etc. 
I.
could.
not.
find.
him.
ANYWHERE!!!!

I was seriously freaking out. His video was running, and he was no where to be found. I was running through the house screaming his name, and nothing.
I was seriously in heart attack mode.
I ran to the garage and opened the door, and I heard a muffled yell, "MOM!!!"
Jaxon was locked in the car.
I opened the door and my poor little guy was sobbing his eyes out. His shirt was soaked with tears, and his face was beet red from the heat. He clung to my neck for dear life.  He explained that he had come to get a craft out of the car that he had made for his teacher, so he could put some finishing touches on it.  Somehow the door closed and locked, and he didn't know how to unlock it.  As far as I can tell, he was locked in there sobbing and sweating to death for 10-15 minutes.  SERIOUSLY!!?!?!  This day was already going to be emotional for the both of us...and this was the last thing we needed.
  After a lot of consoling, and hugging, (And a few hidden tears on my part) we got everything together, and took some pictures out front. Please note the red eyes and nose, and the lack of true smile.  That is what back-to-school pictures look like when you've been accidentally locked in your mom's car on the first day of Kindergarten...


Smiles are not too bad on these first three...

At this point....this is the best he could muster...

Not even attempting a smile in this one... (but OH SO PROUD of his Mario Bros folder!!!)

We got to school, found his room and took a few pics by the door.  It's hard to see the sign, but Jaxon's room is a "Peanut and Treenut Free classroom." This is in part thanks to Jaxon who is allergic to peanuts, but there are 3 other nut allergies, a seliacs disease, and one girl who is allergic to bleach! It was interesteing to note that at least 2/3 of the classroom doors at school had the peanut/treenut sign.  I think nuts and nut products are going to have to be banned at schools very shortly... anyway...I digress...

After drooping off his folder at the ramp, Jax went to the kindergarten playground to play. He hopped right in, and did his thing.  He had been warned by his cousin that Kindergarteners are NOT allowed to do the monkey bars until after Christmas, which made him sad, becuase he is a Monkey-Bar-MAN!  So, he did them as many times as he could before he was officially told the rule! 

He was a little shy...as you can see in this picture...

Look at this serious face....playing is SERIOUS BUSINESS!

(I know I'm  biased, but man he is GORGEOUS!!!)

When the whistles blew all around it about scared the pants of Jaxon! He ran to me and grabbed my hand, and I of course, loved it!  We walked to the ramp, he picked up his folder and water bottle, gave me a kiss, and ran to line up on the ramp. 

Mrs. Bornowski came out and told all the kids to turn and wave and blow a kiss to their parents.  We of course were all clicking pictures and trying not to cry....yet!  Then she had them say, "Bye Mom and Dad! I'll be okay!  See you in 3 hours!!" 

Then she had them all look at her for their first set of directions. Not one kid was crying.... but there was one kid who was still looking at his Mama instead of Mrs. Bornowski....can you spot him???

Checking to make sure I was still there....

Be. Still. My. Heart. There he goes....my baby.  No more looking back...

As I walked away in my hat and sunglasses...the tears started to roll.  I didn't want anyone to see me crying, but as I quickly looked left and right, there were lots of others with silent tears rolling down as well. (please note, there was NOT ONE kindergartener crying, or even remotely concerned.... I thought that was pretty awesome!)

Anyway, I had a fun and LOOOOONG breakfast with some other moms, and by the time it was over, it was time to pick J back up! The time with friends helped me not think too much about Jax, and I was surprised how quickly the time went.  When I picked him up he said his day was awesome, but that he didn't remember much. This is totally Jaxon's M.O. I dragged a little out of him including that they visited the library, and there are "Over 25,000 books in there! Or....13,000....or maybe 1,000"  He couldn't quite remember, but he was impressed by the number anyways!

The first thing he told me when we got in the car was, "I GOT AN "O"!!!"  We had talked a lot over the summer about the behavior chart he would get and what an O- outstanding, S-satisfactory, and N-needs improvement means.  It was very important to Jaxon to get an O, and several times in the previous week he would help me with something and say, "Mom! If you were Mrs. Bornowski, would you give me an O right now???"

That was the first thing he told anyone who asked how kindergarten was, "GOOD! I GOT AN O!!!"

At the bank our favorite bank guy was asking J about his teacher and JAxon said, "She's very nice, AND she's VERY beautiful!!" I was cracking up, becuase she IS very beautiful! She looks like a greek goddess! And a 5 year old having a little crush on his teacher and wanting to impress her daily is NEVER a bad thing!

Now we are 2.5 days into the school year, and he is loving it.  He LOVED PE and thought the teacher was hysterical, which he is!  On the way to school yesterday (Second day) out of the blue he said, "Mom, did you know that Kindergarten is TOTALLY AWESOME???" 

It made my heart so happy to hear him say that! We've talked a lot about how being successful in school means really liking it, and finding the good in everything you do, even if it is hard or takes a long time, so we are hoping it sticks!

Anyway, now here I am, sitting at the computer while my only child is being taught by someone else. I'm still having a lot of mixed emotions about it, but since he is loving it, it is all getting a little easier...