Good Week

So this week C, my 5 year old boy, started kindergarten. On Monday, I took him to school, fully expecting to cry, but I did very well. The tears welled up a couple of times, except nothing spilled over. I was just glad I didn't go ballistic. I had arranged to have the whole day off, if needed. However, it wasn't needed and I was only a half hour late to work.

In addition to that, we noticed his first loose tooth on Sunday. It fell out of his mouth on Wednesday. That was a huge ordeal as it was our first encounter with the tooth fairy. I told C he needed to put his newly orphaned tooth under his pillow so the tooth fairy could come and give him money. Our kid is not satisfied ever with a quick answer, so eventually the whole thing became a huge production. He is to put the tooth under his pillow and he has to go to sleep because she isn't visible while you are awake. Then she gets the tooth, leaves money, taps her wand in his mouth to make the new tooth grow (which wasn't visible at first, but is totally growing in now, confirming Mommy's story), then gives the old tooth to Mommy to keep. We ended up giving him $1 as we have no idea how much teeth go for these days and are unwilling to spoil someone with something he has barely an idea of. More money just seemed wasteful.

All summer, we were concerned with how going to a new school after 4 years at a child development center would hit our not-so-good-with-change boy, especially after his teachers brought up 3 weeks ago that he may not be mature enough to be successful with finger painting and structured play. We were a little angry that after all this time spent with him, they brought it up at the last minute. I politely told them their concerns were well received, but that he was going anyway. It turned out to be good, since he seems to be doing so much better. Turns out he was bored. My kid is too smart for them. :)

In all that concern for the boy, we never once thought about how it would affect N, his 3 year old sister. As it turned out, she wasn't ready for the change. We hadn't bothered to talk to her about it, so when she ended up going to CDC in a separate vehicle, being dropped off without her big brother, she was traumatized. The first day was fine because I don't think she realized it, but the second day was harder. She wouldn't let me go and I was late for work again. As the days went on, she became a little more used to the idea. However, she was quite a bit more emotional. That could have been due to the buildup of wax in her ears, or the poop that hadn't come out of her in at least a week (finally had some pooage yesterday), or the fever, or the complete lack of sleep. Needless to say, her week was not that great.

So, here is to a new week, with new ideas and activities and feelings. *CLINK*