Natalie and Abigail: The Dawn of a New (school) Age

Natalie and Abby - 1st day of Kindergarten

Well, the time has come. Despite my best efforts, Natalie and Abby turned 5 and started school. I'm actually incredibly proud of them. We had a great time shopping for supplies, talking about school, reading books about school, going to meet their teacher and starting the first day. They did absolutely amazing - no tears and barely a glance back. Mommy and Daddy both walked them to their class the first day, but once they saw the play dough at their table - they barely even said good-bye!

Abby

Oh, since someone is bound to ask...we had every intention of separating them for school. I'm a firm believer in letting them be their own distinct selves. I have rarely dressed them the same - and not in years. They are individual people and should be treated as such. However, as we began discussing school and telling them that Natalie would have one teacher and Abby would have a different teacher, it became clear this was extremely distressing for them, especially Abby. Her sweet little eyes would get big and nearly fill with tears, and she would say, "I don't want to have a different teacher than Natalie. I want to be with Natalie." After some discussion, we decided that since they had never been to pre-school, going to school AND separating them might be too much all at once. So, at the last minute, we decided to keep them together. They do sit at separate tables, and it appears that they play separately on the playground as well as together at times. For this year, it seems like the best decision, and we will be probably separate them next year.

Natalie

Their new school is a year-round calendar - so they started on July 19! They had a staggered entry which meant the first 4 days (16th -19th) a 4th of each class came to school. On Friday, July 20, everyone was there. It worked out great for us since their start day was the last staggered one and we could just start - and keep going - like they would every week. I think we are going to love the year round calendar. Our first break starts September 15 for three weeks and I am already planning a trip to Michigan, camping, and time with grandparents.

Abby and Natalie at their classroom

As far as adjusting, the girls are really doing well. They love recess - of course - and playing something called, "puppy pants" with some boy named Matthew. I wasn't really sure what to think of that until I learned it's basically a game of tag with the girls (with other girls as well) shouting, "puppy pants" at Matthew. I have no idea what that even means. They have also enjoyed making sand pictures in the shady area under the slide. It sounds like a pretty good place to play - since it's been nearly 100 degrees here. I was thinking back to the days before AC. I am SO glad they don't have to deal with that.

They also, ironically, seem to like lunchtime. I'm quite sure it has nothing to do with the actual eating part, and everything to do with getting to sit at the little tables in the cafeteria. We have had some issues with various parts of their lunch not being opened by the teachers. I'm trying different things to make it easier. There are also still days they don't eat much at all, which frustrates me from a place of nutrition and calories, but also of waste. This week's trial: not sending as much food. Hopefully, they will either eat it all, or I'll at least have less to throw away.

Natalie and Abby at their table

The only thing the girls don't like is computer class. Apparently, they were put in front of a computer and given an educational game to play. They had a really difficult time working the mouse and making it click the right place. The other kids apparently seemed experts. I think it frustrated them, especially Abby. But, I'm actually kind of proud of this deficiency. It means they have NOT spent their days parked in front of a computer playing games - even educational ones. They have played, colored, dug for worms, played with snakes, read books, watched animal and history shows with me, played outside, visited museums, zoos, and parks, and learned to be creative and innovative. I figure we have plenty of time to learn how to use a mouse - they can never re-do their first 5 years of development.

As I anticipated, we are having a few issues with Natalie and her inability to maintain focus. We've seen this behavior at home for a while and been working on it. Natalie is sort of like a cartoon character who gets distracted by every single shiny thing. The character stops everything to follow the shiny thing and walks into a wall.

We have a meeting Monday with all relevant parties to figure out the best options. We have to determine the cause for her behavior. Is it ADD, and OT/fine motor issue, immaturity or simply, "this is not what I want to do right now"? The good news is that she is not disruptive. She's not wandering around or bothering other children. It sounds like she's mostly just staring into space. I know we will figure out the best thing to do and get Natalie on track asap.

Overall, Natalie and Abby are enjoying school. The only hint we've had that trouble could be brewing in the future is a repeated question, "mommy, how long do we have to go to school?" My answer is usually, "forever:-)". I'm pretty sure though, that they don't fully understand what that means for them over the next 13 years - and beyond!! At least I can tell them they will have a break in about 5 more weeks:-)