kindergarten update

After 2 full weeks of school, we have all finally settled into our routine.  

The first week ended up being quite rough.  Once the first day was over and he realized that he had to keep going back, he became very upset.  He spent the next four days crying from breakfast, through our bike ride and all the way into class.  A few of the days, he cried enough that he soaked his mask and the teacher had to give him a different one.  He'd beg and plead for us to take him home and not to make him go.  He'd grab ahold of me and try his best not to let go... it was rough.  

We spent that next weekend talking about how important school is - how if he wants to be a fireman, he has to finish school.  We ordered him an iron-on fireman badge that he gets to earn and put on his backpack when he makes it through a whole week of not crying.  And, his teacher told him that he would finally get to have a friend at his lunch table (like all the other kids) the next week.

So, on Monday of his second week, at breakfast, Gordy announced, "I'm going to be brave today, mom.".  And he was.  No tears at all!  We could tell that he was not super happy about the whole thing, but he tried to do his best and after a few days, he actually seemed to be enjoying it.  He has some friends who he plays tag with on the playground.  He loves his teacher, Ms. Matsuda.  He is not a big fan of coloring time, but he uses the backs of his coloring sheets to draw us pictures of our family holding hands.  And, he loves our bike rides to and from school.

Today, he had food poisoning, so he stayed home and he actually said he was sad about missing school because his teacher and all of his friends would be sad that he wasn't there!

I'm sure that there will be days in our future when he begs us to let him stay home from school, but for now, he's turned the corner and is liking his school time.

chef gogo

Gordy has always loved to cook with me.  Since he was just a little guy, he'd hang out at the counter while I was cooking and he'd put all of the veggies that I'd chop into measuring cups and then pour them all into the pot.  He'd smell (and sample) all the seasonings before dumping them in and then he'd stand on the counter by the stove and stir the yummy brew.

All of the above still occurs, except for the standing on the counter, so Nana found and ordered a cool monthly activity that comes in the mail called rad-dish.  Each month, a box comes that has a theme (i.e. tropics, Korean kitchen, etc.), three recipes, a cool cooking tool, some fun facts about the country / region, and an iron-on patch that you get to iron on the apron that you got in the first box once you complete all the monthly recipes.  Gordy LOVES it!!

So far, almost all of the recipes have been fun to make and delicious to eat.  And, there's even been a few that we will make again in the future (i.e. Korean cinnamon and sugar pancakes).  We are midway through our box #2 and Gordy can't wait to finish it so he can earn his second patch!

kindergarten, here we come!

 Gordy started kindergarten!  He's had two half-day orientation days so far and overall, he seems pretty happy with the whole thing.  Each morning, our alarm wakes us up (because we are all lazy bums), we eat a quick breakfast, we hop on our bikes and we ride the short mile to the school.  When we get to the school entrance, we all mask up, go park and lock up Gordy's bike, and walk him to his classroom where he gives us hugs, waves goodbye and heads into class A1 with Ms. Matsuda.

Next week, he starts into full days (7:55am to 1:50pm) for the entire week, so our fingers are crossed that he continues to like it well enough to not fight going.  

So far he's what we've been able to pull out of him about school:

- He loves recess because the kids get to play on the playground.  

- He does not like the school lunch and wants a "home lunch" packed from now on. (The school had a menu change and instead of a veggie plate, served beef patty with gravy... I'm not surprised he came home starving.)

- His teacher is nice.

- He has to raise his hand if he wants to talk.

- All of his neighborhood friends are in different classes, so he is going to make new friends.

- He gets a little sad sometime because he misses us.

That last one broke my heart a little bit, but I'm so glad that he's doing his best to be brave.  There were a few kids screaming and crying when they got dropped off last week and I can't imagine having to go through that.  Thankfully, he only seems to get sad during downtimes at school, so hopefully that will get better as he gets more comfortable.

It's weird to watch Gordy go into school and to picture what his classroom must be like compared to our kindergarten classrooms.  I remember sitting (close) to my friends and playing together, holding hands with my best friends and sliding down the slide together, sharing crayons, and playing with toys... things are very different now.  The kids sit 3' apart, they are not allowed to sit next to each other during lunch and basically eat alone.  They must wait 5 seconds after someone goes down the slide before sliding themselves.  And, since they wear masks the entire time, they can't see each others faces/smiles.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that they are wearing masks to keep themselves and everyone else as safe as possible, but the whole thing makes me a little sad for the kids.  Their kindergarten environment seems less friendly than what I remember mine being.  

Thankfully, Gordy doesn't know anything different, so he doesn't seem to mind.  And, as long as he's happy, we are all happy.  I'm so proud of my little guy for being so brave and I'm excited for all that he's going to learn this next year!