by Laura Weisskopf Bleill
Every day I get the same question from my kindergartener-to-be. Mommy, how many days until school starts?
From right now — 11. That’s how many days we have until you become a kindergartener.
Last week I went to registration. I walked in and was bombarded by various school issues. Transportation? Afterschool program? PTA? Girl Scouts? Boy Scouts? School lunch? and if I’m honest about it, the whole thing was a little overwhelming.
I finally came to the oh-so-obvious realization that this is all new. It’s all foreign. Not only will this be my daughter’s first day of school. It will be the first day of school for our family, my husband and I, and our daughter — together.
Because we’re all new at this.
No, I won’t be worried about finding the bathroom or forgetting the teacher’s name. I will be worried about whether or not my daughter had long enough to eat lunch (she likes to take her sweet time) and whether or not she’s making friends. I will also just be worried that I don’t know the parents of the kids she is with every day, unlike the situation at preschool.
I am worried that she is worried, and scared, and not too sure of herself. The other day she told me she will miss her preschool, the first time she’s mentioned it all summer. Our always confident little girl, confident no more.
I know she will pick up her mojo as the routine gets, well, routine. And so will we.
We are going to the school she always “dreamed of her whole life” and she’ll even have a kid in her class that she knew from preschool. It’s sort of familiar — but sort of not.
We felt relief when the insanity of the Unit 4 kindergarten lottery situation was over. We received our letter and got into our second choice; we were OK with that. A few weeks later we got a call from Michelle at the Family Information Center informing us that there was a seat available at our first choice school.
Of course, we jumped at it right way. I hoped that by us moving, someone else would move, and the domino effect would take place — and our friends who were unassigned would be unassigned no more.
That’s not exactly what happened, but at least it’s a nice thought. Even though we ended up with our first choice, I will continue to discuss the Unit 4 kindergarten lottery and how it is, pardon the Harry Potter reference, a dark mark on our community. We can ensure that this issue doesn’t disappear from radar by letting the Board of Education know that it is a major concern and one we want addressed by the new superintendent.
Of course, there are many other issues out there and I’m sure as the new kindergarten parents we will jump head first into it.
After I walked out of registration, I realized here’s where the hard part really begins: making sure our little girl has the best experience possible, that she has everything she needs to grow, thrive, and learn.
So Bottenfield, watch out. Here come the Bleills.
Laura Weisskopf Bleill is the co-founder and editor of chambanamoms.com. You can reach her at laura@chambanamoms(dot)com.