Yikes! I am getting more and more behind in my blogging. Two weeks of school have passed and I haven't written about Todd's first day or week at kindergarten. (Nor have I finished writing about my travels to Maine, but that will have to wait for later.)
This was Todd's first day of school, getting on the bus in the morning.
Todd was not nervous about getting on the bus and going off to school
at all. He had been well prepared by his mother and was very much looking forward to it. There were no tears for him
or me.
There are two other families who catch the bus at our stop--three girls who are all older than Todd. Our family lives the farthest away from the bus stop, and I usually wear my rollerblades and put Ryan in the stroller so that we can make it to the end of the road quickly without leaving Ryan crying behind because he can't keep up. Todd's bus comes at 7:52am. I haven't had to be out the door every day before 8:00am since before I had children. Two weeks of school and we haven't missed the bus yet! I'm so proud of myself. Of course, I am not usually showered and finished with my "morning chores" (making all the beds, taking care of laundry, and cleaning up the kitchen) by then, but at least Todd has had his lunch ready and has eaten a good breakfast each morning before he has left.
Although we have had no problems making it to the bus in time in the morning, that doesn't mean there haven't been complications in the afternoon. I called the office for the school buses on the first day to find out when Todd would be dropped off. The answer: 3:25pm. I was running a little behind that first afternoon and didn't get to leave until about 3:22pm. I had my rollerblades on, and as I rounded the bend in the road I saw the bus drive away without my son getting off. I called out to the two girls who live at the end of the street, "Where's Todd--you know, that little boy who got on the bus with you this morning?" "Umm. The bus driver held someone back and wouldn't let them get off the bus." Uh oh. So, we called the school, they called the bus driver, and we found out that the bus driver wouldn't let Todd off because she didn't see anyone waiting for him. I'm actually very pleased that the bus driver was concerned and looking out for the safety of my new kindergartner. The bus stop is on a relatively busy road and it could be dangerous. No harm done. She just dropped him off when she was done with her other stops. Todd didn't seem to be too bothered by it.
The next afternoon the kids brought home a little form to complete for the bus driver, including basic address information as well as a survey: what to do if no one is there to meet your child getting off the bus. We talked about it as a family and decided that we felt comfortable with the bus driver letting Todd off the bus even if I wasn't at the end of the street yet. We figured that in most cases I would be on my way. If there was an emergency that took me away from home before I could get word to Todd, he could walk home by himself. If he found no one at home he could walk to Aunt Donna's. If no one was there, he could go to Oma's. The chance of that happening is very rare, but at least I know that there are back-up plans--a benefit of having family very close by. In fact, in these first two weeks of school his Aunt Donna and his Papa have both had a chance to pick Todd up from the school bus, much to his delight.
We have also had a chance to see how it works when no one is there to greet him. One day Todd's bus dropped him off almost 10 minutes early. I was keeping an eye on the clock, and was about a minute away from leaving when I heard the dogs barking. I looked outside and saw Todd almost to our mailbox already. I was so proud of him for coming right home. He asked why I wasn't there to meet him, and I explained that his bus was early (and showed him the clock to prove it). I was proud of the confidence he had and am grateful that I can trust him to come right home without playing in the middle of the busy street.
There is something about seeing people starting a new phase in their lives that is so exciting to watch. Seeing a newborn baby, or a toddler learning how to walk, a high school graduate, a couple getting married, and . . . a new kindergartner! I had forgotten about this last one. It has been nice seeing the smiles of our neighbors as they watch Todd on his way to the bus stop. A little boy with a big backpack walking with excitement down the street to the bus stop brought such smiles and friendly greetings from some of our favorite neighborhood grandparents (and others too). We were greeted by Peggy and Betsy, Karl, and Deede. Even a week and half later Karl got a big smile on his face as he watched us making our way to school in the morning. Ms. Peggy and Ms. Betsy greet us almost every morning wishing Todd a good day at school. I love living here.
There have also been some adjustments for both Todd and Ryan and myself. Although Todd looks happy and cheerful in these pictures, he sometimes needs a good snack and some cool-down time before he is able to keep those smiles going. He was a little grouchy the first day especially. All-day kindergarten is a tough transition. Todd behaves well in public, and I am sure that after hours of being on his best behavior he needed a chance to let out some steam.
Todd is also not used to having to eat lunch so early (around 10:30am/10:45am). For someone who has a good breakfast, that is pretty early for eating lunch. Although I have been packing foods that Todd enjoys in his lunchbox, I have found much of the food untouched. Now our after-school tradition is that when Todd comes home we sit down in the kitchen, empty Todd's backpack, open his lunchbox, and Todd gets to finish eating whatever is still left in there. Todd doesn't complain about this at all and is usually eager to eat.
We also had a tough transition the Friday after his first week of school. He had been fighting a little bit of a cold for two days, and though he was all smiles when I picked him up that afternoon...
his body continued to go downhill as the afternoon and evening progressed. I think he was feeling the stress of a long week of school. He continued to look more and more pale and eventually threw up around 7:00pm. Fortunately, he went straight to bed, had a good sleep, and woke up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning. We made sure that he had lots of down time over the weekend, and he didn't have any more problems. But let's hope that we don't have to go through that again this weekend!
Ryan and I have also had our own transitions to make. I kept thinking that I would be able to get so much accomplished after Todd went to school, that I would be forced into a new schedule, and that my house would get cleaned and organized. I am still waiting for that to happen.... I didn't have any obligations the first day of school. Ryan and I stayed home all day, and all day we were . . . listless. That is the best word I have been able to come up with to describe how we were feeling. We had no direction, and just kind of wandered around the house. I got a few little things done, but I couldn't even tell you what we did all day. We just missed Todd.
While I have been able to banish that listlessness in the last two weeks, Ryan is still struggling. He has to learn how to play by himself now. It's not that he always has problems occupying himself, but he doesn't play like I would like him to. We have a roomful of toys for his entertainment, but too often he just wants to be by my side, even if all I am doing is folding laundry or working on the computer. In fact, as I type now he is at the desk beside me drawing on our dry-erase board. Not that I have a problem with that at all. It's much better than climbing all over my chair or going through my desk drawers. I just want to make sure that he has time to play and use his imagination. I took him to our church playgroup this Wednesday, and he was kind of lost there, too. His boy buddies are all in preschool now and aren't able to come to playgroup anymore.
I ended up calling Anne saying, "Ryan needs a friend! Can Maddie and Wyatt play?" So, Anne came to my rescue and brought her kids over to the house for some lunch and playtime. It was so good for Ryan. Even though he, Maddie and Wyatt have different interests, Ryan is so comfortable with them that he was just happy to have them around. He laughed at something that Wyatt was doing at the lunch table, and it was so good to hear that big laugh in the middle of the day again. When we do things together he still smiles and laughs, but it is a little laugh. Hopefully, we'll both get through this phase quickly and find our middle-of-the-day big laughs again soon.
A few months ago Ryan informed me that he wanted another helicopter cake this year. However, about a week ago when I asked him more about his cake he told me that he did not want the same kind of helicopter as last year. He wanted one with two propellers on top. Great--another cake with no pattern!
Todd with Rocky Road ice cream.
Afton enjoys ice cream, too! 
Pictures can be deceiving. One might assume from the following photo that Ryan enjoyed the outing far more than Todd did. Quite the contrary. Ryan tired of it and was is in no hurry to prolong the ride or make plans for another immediate boat outing. I think it is too limiting for him. You can't get out and play (or at least we didn't, since the out-going tide water wasn't the prettiest, and the jellyfish are in now). And, I think he just got kind of bored with the scenery. 
