The 100th Day

According to my children, we are now 100 days in. We have been at this “kids in school” thing for 100 days of learning. And it honestly feels like we’ve been doing it all along. We survived the kindy crud. We have made it through the not-yet-understanding-the-essential-necessity-of-carpooling and having to wake two children up for about 6 weeks to do pick-ups. We’ve picked up in heat. Monsoons. And darn near tornadoes. We’ve packed lunches. And figured out the joy of the days that require no packing of lunches. We’ve liked it all so much that I’ve even tried to take them on days they don’t have classes. We’ve survived several random days off, and a Holiday break. And we are all still in one piece. In fact, we’re kind of in a groove. And it only took about 75 days to get there.

Barrett loves kindergarten. And his teacher(s).
Jonah loves preschool. And his teacher(s).
And mama loves that Harrison is now one and no longer requires an appointment at the gym childcare center.

All in all, this school thing is a-ok. And here are the top 5 things I’ve learned in the first 100 days…

1. Always fully read emails from the teacher.

You might think you know what the email is going to say based on the subject. You might think it is just telling you what you already know. And then you go to take your kid to school and there is no school. Read the email.

2. No matter what, your kid will change once they go to school.

One kid has some crazy voice that he’s trying out, likely because his friends laugh when he uses it. One has started to have dreams about his best friend, “tarter”. And both have picked up some choice phrases that I’ve never used at home. Unless I have been saying the word butt over and over in my sleep without realizing it. Or uttering the phrase what the under my breath without knowing.

3. You don’t choose their friends.

You meet a classmate and think, “what a great kid.” You meet their mom and think, “oh we’ll be besties. We’ll grab coffee. We’ll get our feet done. We’ll skip through fields of daisies.” But then your kid never seems to naturally gravitate toward that kid. And your daisy/skipping dreams are dashed. So it starts. You don’t have control… Welcome to the real world. Luckily no one is dealing smack or encouraging trash talk. Yet. It is only kindergarten after all. The friends they do choose are still lovely. First grade though… That could be a rude awakening.

4. I don’t have control.

Did my kid eat lunch? Did he use his manners? Is he nice to his classmates? Are they nice to him? Heck if I really know. I’m not gonna sugar coat it, staying home or having the boys in our house has (for better or worse) allowed me to have a fair amount of control over their days. And I don’t know that it felt that different when B was in daycare or at preschool. I was the watchdog. From food and water intake to what words come out of their mouth, I’ve had a front row seat. Now I really don’t have control over his day. He gets to make his own choices. And so, when he loses his coat, it’s up to him to find it. Welcome to the real world… Sorta. And when the other one throws a fit about putting his coat on from the car to the building, I’m just over fighting about such business. You wanna be independent? You can be cold and independent. #notmyproblemunlessitssubzero

5. Teachers are amazing.

I subbed for kindergarteners. It was a scene. I need a bandaid for my invisible cut, I wanna tell you all about my brother smearing his poop everywhere, She touched my desk. Keeping up with the wants and needs of twenty kindergarteners every school day would honestly cause me to buy stock in a brewery. Because as fun as they are… The energy and commentary is endless. To quote the Grinch, “the noise! The noise! The noise noise noise noise!!” {not verbatim:)}. And yet, the kindergarten and preschool teachers have taught more in 100 days than I managed to in the first 3 and 5 years. So teachers, once again, are proven to have been dropped directly from heaven. Which makes me want to hug them every day… But another lesson… The teacher can’t be your friend. So stop snapchatting her.

How has your school year been going?! Are you in the groove? Or do you end your days like this?

Are you counting the days until summer?

**because I get most info from my five year old, the 100th day may actually have already happened or is really next week. Last lesson I’ve learned… That’s okay.