Monday, August 22, 2011
This is the day Nicholas began his academic career! Apparently, he was not the only child starting school that day since there was a lot more traffic than usual. I had a vacation day from work so Lisa and I could drop him off and pick him up together. Our transfer was approved for him to attend Stephens Elementary so we no longer qualify for bus service. This means Lisa, who has SO much free time, now gets to take the boy to and from school each day. Since we still have not been able to move closer to his school, this is about a 25 minute trip each way.....and right now it is well over 100 degrees in the afternoon so waiting to pick him up shall be a steamy situation for a little while.....but we think it is all worth it because this is the best place for our son to be able to flourish. Due to the traffic conditions, we arrived too late to drop him off at the normal spot. Instead we had to park, and walk him into class. Since all the other kids in his class were already seated, we just stopped at the door of the classroom and off he went....never turned back..
We immediately went back to the car and did some adult things...you know....went to get the car inspected, went grocery shopping and then went to lunch! The car ride was strangely quite, as was the house the couple of hours before we left to pick him up. When we first walked into the restaurant (Blue Goose Cafe, Highland Village, TX) we saw a group of ten parents who obviously also had children who started school that day. They were all drinking heavily and talking about their kids. One gentleman, with a Margarita in hand big enough to choke a horse said with a slurred and choppy cadence, "Emma...is totally a visual learner and her brother, uh, uh, Brennen, Brandon isn't." Hopefully they sobered up before 2:50 pm.
It was now time to retrieve the Boy.
The picking up process is quite elaborate.
When you register your child for school you are given a number placard for your car. (It hangs from your rear view mirror) This number must be visible by the time your car has made it through the long, long line of cars that snakes around the back of the school and crosses in front of the cafeteria. Each afternoon, the cafeteria is transformed into a transportation waiting area. As your car creeps towards the front, a man speaks your number into his walkie-talkie. His counterpart on the inside relays the number to the massive team of volunteers. When a child's number is up (that doesn't sound too good) they are escorted out of the building and into (hopefully) the correct car so they may begin their journey home. As we got up to the front, we did not see Nicholas. So we waited and waited. The assistant to the walkie-talkie dude, who does not yet have his own device, yelled our number to the volunteers. Still no Nicholas. When the other volunteers noticed the line of cars had come to a complete stop (not a good sign) they yelled at us, "What's your number?" We yelled back. They gave us a waive and 26 seconds later, our dangerously cute little boy who had just conquered his first day of Kindergarten came bounding out of the cafeteria and got into our car. Day one complete. Only 13 more years to go....
Day two...
Lisa arrived in plenty of time to participate in the normal dropping of process. As she pulled in front of the school she saw five orange cones on the sidewalk. Standing behind each cone was a ready, willing and able 5th grader wearing some kind of official sash. These kids are there to help the little kids get to their classrooms. When the volunteer approached the door where Nicholas was climbing out of his car seat, Lisa noticed she was not much taller than our Boy. The dear sweet little volunteer girl said to Nicholas, "You're big." Lisa made sure to say very loudly, "Make sure she takes you to Mrs. Maplestone's KINDERGARTEN class." The last thing she heard the girl say after taking Nicholas by the hand was, "Let's go buddy.." Since we never received a phone call about him not being in class, we figured he got to the right room!
As I write this, the boy is sleeping and has completed three days of Kindergarten. We have noticed that he has already begun to repeat things he is hearing and experiencing at school....thankfully he is only hearing 'Kindergarten things' so far.
He has said..... "Voices off!" "That was great. Let's do it again!" "I don't like when he blows the whistle." (P.E. teacher is our guess)
He has also sung bits and pieces of some songs...once we get all the lyrics down, we will share them with you.
Here are the only pictures I was able to get on his historic first day...
The only thing worse than your parents waking you up at 6:30 AM
is when your Dad has a camera!
Wake up sleepy head!!
Dressed and ready to go!
Buckling his seat-belt all by himself!
SCHOOL TODAY!
I managed to snap this shot while we were rushing down the hallway towards his room.
Since his whole class was already seated I did not want to freak them out by bursting into the room with a camera flashing at them, so I settled for this fine picture of his classroom door.
FINALLY he emerges from the holding area!
Almost to the car...just a little further...
Moments away from getting into the car!
A very special bowl of ice cream for a very special little boy!
We love you lots and lots Nicholas....
